Two Travelers
by Rogue Krayt Dragon
Summary: Two friends. One mystery. Lots of comedy. Endless possibilities. Note: this story contains so many categories that it will "travel" periodically between the categories it contains. Subscribe if you want to follow it!
1. The Mysterious Storm

**Author's note****: This is a story I have been working on with a best friend of mine (who goes by the name of Alitote on this site), about the adventures of two friends thrust into a mystery with laughs along the way that combines many worlds of fiction. Let the records show that there are **_**two **_**authors to this story, but the story can only be posted in one location. Please review!  
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**Disclaimer: We do not own any of the copyrighted material present in this chapter, which includes but is not limited to Star Wars. **

Chapter 1

The dusk was darkening upon the gray, cloudy sky of a suburban neighborhood. The clouds were starting to tear up, and droplets of water trickled from the murky mass above. There was a whistling in the leaves of the trees, and they shuddered with anticipation. Puddles began to form in the spaces on the sidewalk where the cement had been gouged out. Underneath the chaotic soup, entities that were usually silent and tranquil were ragged and restless, sensing that something was about to change.

The wind blew sharply over a single spot, and a shadowy figure formed from the vortex. Trees around the new arrival wrested with the wind as it moved. The figure formed more, to appear slightly human, and reached inside the mass of itself to pull out a glowing red orb. The orb pulsated and the thunderstorm inside it lashed out against the glass that encased it. The shadowy figure seemed to stare at it for a moment, though the question of if the creature had eyes remained a mystery. Without hesitation, the part of the figure that vaguely resembled an arm transformed, and it started to grow, shifting in an upward spiral like the accelerated growth of a tree trunk, lifting the red orb high above the ground.

Suddenly, the orb exploded, unleashing savage blue lightning that quickly absorbed itself into the clouds above. There was an enormous crack, and white light filled the sky, only for a second, and echoed farther than any distance could possibly measure.

The mysterious figure then disappeared in the same fashion as it had come: by a gust of wind.

Inside a nearby school building, the lashing of the rain broke the monotonous air of the classroom. At the back of the room sat a teenage boy, with a mop of brown hair and long legs that didn't allow him to be comfortable in his desk. He scowled silently. He hated Physics with a burning passion. The teacher started to drone, and the boy started to drift…

Soon the rain came down even harder, and the wind howled in conflicting tones. It was almost exactly what was going on in the boy's head.

The boy's name was Rogue. Or rather, that is what he was known by. He was what most could consider normal, by standards of appearance. What most didn't know was that Rogue had a sixth sense: he could sense vague happenings in the future. He was also a musician, a writer, and a self-proclaimed theorist.

He was about to fall into a partial slumber when he was jolted into reality.

"Can you tell us what the answer to question four is?"

Rogue mumbled something that sounded like a "C". Just for good measure, he added a "C" in sign language and drew a big "C" on a blank sheet of paper. He was also tempted to act out the "C" from "YMCA", but decided against it.

"What was that?"

Rogue imagined a mental facepalm. At that moment, another thunderclap shook the foundations of the school. Rogue hoped that Raven was handling this torture better than he was…

At the other end of the school, a teenage girl sat alone at a desk with a slightly different problem. In her class, the sound was not a drone, but a beehive. No one would SHUT UP. Every single student seemed obsessed with themselves. At one end of the room, several girls were discussing the newest fashion accessories, while a different group of guys was arguing over which team would win a football game.

Raven sighed. _Conformists…_

The substitute was attempting to quiet everyone down, but to no avail. It was a commonly accepted fact that in certain situations, such as an intense outside distraction, the substitute teacher had no control whatsoever. The thunderstorm outside was one of the worst of the century according to the news that morning, and that gave an excuse to students to go wild and crazy. Why something so unconnected could cause insanity, Raven would never understand.

Raven was a blonde-haired, insistent girl with no tolerance for popular stupidity. Also a musician, she was imaginative and full of ideas (and, on occasion, drama).

All of a sudden, there was a gigantic boom of thunder accompanied by a tremendous flash, and the power went out.

_All right!_ thought Raven, suddenly excited.

There was chaos and turmoil almost immediately. The floodgates burst. Teachers could not keep their students controlled, and even those who didn't wish to move were washed away by the student tide. There was screaming and howls of insanity.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" shouted a particularly crazy kid.

Raven morphed into the crowd but kept a wary eye for her friend, Rogue. He should be in Physics by this time, she guessed. She chuckled. Oh, the torture!

When the power went out, the only physics that concerned Rogue were those of physical contact. Being tall didn't keep him above the deindividuation **[1]** that was the student body.

Now would be the perfect time to be able to use mind control…

Rogue's eyes began to adjust to the dark. He was glad he had been eating carrots in his lunch for the past few weeks. Another flash of lightning illuminated the hallway. Several students panicked and ran, knocking down others.

_This is getting ridiculous._

Rogue clobbered a few kids as he made his way toward the doorway…and ran straight into Raven.

She grinned. "Hello there!"

"I'll bet you're loving this," said Rogue.

"You bet I am!" Raven grinned again. "You should have seen the helpless teachers!"

"Oh, I saw them all right," said Rogue, clearly more concerned about finding somewhere safe from the onslaught.

There was a crackling over the PA system.

"Due to….students…sent home….."

There was a cheer from the students. Everyone rushed to the nearest exit.

Rogue started to look sick. "I hate mob mentality."

Raven scoffed. "Conformists." She followed suit.

They started to run down the hallway. They burst out of the door only just ahead of the wave. No one took into account that the storm of the century was still raging outside. Luckily, everyone had a raincoat. Well, almost everyone…

Rogue and Raven walked stridently in the gale. The wind was fierce. It took a few minutes for them to find shelter under a porch.

Rogue shivered. "Geez, this storm is crazy. I've never seen anything like it. It seems…very odd."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Is this your sixth sense again?"

"As a matter of fact, it is." Rogue looked at the thrashing sky. "Now, if only I had a cheeseburger and a large order of fries."

BONK! Rogue was whacked on the back of the head. He turned around to see Raven holding a mysterious crutch that hadn't been there seconds before.

"Where in blazes did that come from?"

Raven smiled mischievously. "It's the Blonde Crutch."

Rogue looked closely. The words "Blonde Crutch" were scrawled messily into the metal.

"I guess that makes it official then," Rogue muttered with annoyance.

The wind suddenly started to howl, and it converged upon a single spot, right in front of the porch. A mass of shadow formed within the cyclone. Rogue and Raven stood transfixed.

"Something is not normal here…" said Rogue warily. He tried to move, but he found it to be impossible. Something shot out of the shadow…and hit Rogue in the face.

He thought it would be unnecessary to say "ow", so he kept his mouth shut. The projectile that had almost lodged itself in his skull was a tennis ball.

The mass had now become a human, or, as Raven assessed, what looked like a human. He was wearing a trench coat and cap, looked very mysterious.

"You have been chosen!"

His voice rang out over the land and a boom of thunder answered his proclamation.

Rogue was puzzled. "Chosen for…what? A luxury cruise in the Caribbean? Free tickets to see a show on Broadway? A lifetime supply of cereal? Funding to write memoirs? Free cooking lessons? Cupcakes? Green beans? Tacos? Leaders in an anarchist movement? Space travel? Guitar lessons? Birthday cak-"

"None of those things. In fact, nothing native to earth."

This cut Rogue short. It was Raven's turn to speak. "You'll have to excuse my…eccentric friend. So…what do we win?"

"You have been tasked with a very important destiny: to bring balance to the Universes. It will be a long and arduous** [2]** task, but you will gain many wondrous powers along the way. There is no turning back."

His shadowy hands grasped the wrists of Rogue and Raven.

"Wait! Hold on a second!"

But the cry was to no avail. The trio had already begun spinning round, and the stormy suburban neighborhood was transformed into a spiraling vortex…

…And as abruptly as it had begun, the spinning stopped.

Rouge and Raven were no longer in the neighborhood. Instead, they were sitting next to the wall inside a stone building. Part of the structures wall had given way to jungle vines and sounds of predatory creatures could be heard. The shadow man was gone. In his place was a small grey disk with a lens at the top and several buttons on its surface.

"What," asked Raven silently, "just happened?"

**Author's note: Alitote requested that I define a few of the words I used:**

**[1] – Deindividuation – the phenomenon in which people become less individual and more group-oriented, causing them to do things that they would not normally do by themselves.**

**[2] – Arduous – full of hardship.**

**Please review!  
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	2. A Strange New Place

Chapter 2

Rogue and Raven stared at the disk, utterly amazed. Suddenly, it moved of its own accord. A projection appeared.

"Greetings, chosen. You have been tasked with a mission so momentous that you, and only you, can succeed.

"In existence, there is a barrier between creation and established reality. This barrier is strong, and therefore only a few ways to traverse between existences is possible. Your task in the current Universe will become clear to you in time. If the need arises, consult me, known locally as a holoprojector, for further information when my judgment deems it necessary to dispense. Go forth and succeed."

The holoprojector shut itself off.

Everything had happened in a split second. Shock and confusion still registered on Raven's face, but Rogue's had become one of deep concentration.

"Raven."

She turned to look at him.

"Based on everything that thing said, and the fact that it was a holoprojector, I think I know where we are."

Raven stood up, brushing dust off of her pants, which she realized were not her pants anymore. Both of them were now wearing a sort of black jumpsuit. Rogue walked to the entrance of the stone structure, and looked outside at the mossy trees covered in dense fog.

"We've just landed…in the Star Wars Universe!"

"Beautiful! We're dead!" Raven said, inspecting the holoprojector. "We're minor characters! Minor characters always die! The only thing that could make us more susceptible to death was if we were wearing red uniforms!"

"Calm down!" Rogue said in a harsh whisper. "If we were chosen for this task, whatever it is, then we can't possibly be minor characters. I don't have a good feeling about this though… I think we're on Circarpous V, also known as Mimban, at the time of the Galactic Civil War."

_Nerd. _Raven shrugged, nonplussed. The holoprojector was more tangible than Rogue's geographic diagnosis.

Rogue stared into the jungle. He could now _feel_ something, something that wasn't his sixth sense. He felt like he was in tune with every bit of life for miles around.

"Pinch me. I think I'm dreaming."

Rather than pinch him, Raven decided it was more appropriate to hit him with the Blonde Crutch.

The blow hurt some, but Rogue felt like it wasn't as painful as it was the first time. There was something different…

In a rash and plot-moving decision, Rogue ventured out into the jungle.

"Hey! Rogue, wait up!" Raven shouted, running to catch up.

The jungle was incredibly dense, and Raven almost lost Rogue two or three times. He seemed consumed by something, and Raven knew from experience that it was probably something important. Raven hacked through some underbrush and almost ran into Rogue, staring up at the canopy above a trail.

"Rogue, wha-?"

"Raven, do you _feel _anything?

She put her hands on her hips. "Oh yeah, I feel something, all right. I _feel_ like whacking you for not telling me what's going on-"

There was then a savage screech. Crashing and screaming sounded, drawing closer.

"That doesn't sound good!" Raven said with wariness. Both moved away for cover in opposite directions. Seconds later, several beings dressed in rags and orange jumpsuits tore out of the underbrush, barely escaping a barrage of blaster fire. The pursuers could not be missed. The white armor was unmistakable against the dark green of the jungle.

"Sithspit!" Rogue swore. Stormtroopers.

He gave a nod to Raven, who was in his line of sight, but hidden from the enemies.

The stormtroopers slashed at the vegetation with annoyance. Rogue could see that there were three in total. Each carried an E-11 blaster rifle, standard issue for stormtroopers. The beings they were chasing were unarmed, and they looked out of breath and tired. The troopers stood facing the victims, raising their blasters…

At that moment, Raven leaped out of the tree and tackled the middle trooper. He let out a yelp and fell to the ground. The other troopers, momentarily stunned, were slow to raise their blasters again. Rogue took that opportunity to spring from the weeds and tackle the one on the left. His blaster was knocked from his hand and landed in the muck. The remaining stormtrooper had recovered and fired at Rogue. Rogue dodged it in a split second.

_How did I do that?_

The stormtrooper was then taken down with a flying kick from the rag clad figure.

Raven was busy beating at the other stormtrooper's helmet. Surprisingly, the troopers weren't putting up much of a fight. They tried to scramble for their blasters but each time they were taken down. At one point Rogue was pinned, and he reached out for a blaster. To his surprise, it leaped into his hand. Thinking quickly, he turned over and blasted his trooper in the face. He crumpled in a smoking heap. Shoving the body off of him, Rogue turned around and shot both of the other troopers. The other two combatants stood and dusted themselves off.

"Well, that was an adventure," Raven said dryly.

The man in rags raised his head. "Who are you two?"

Rogue and Raven exchanged a look that screamed "Oh crap!"

How would they explain their way out of this?

"We come from, er…" Raven began.

"-The Corporate Sector," finished Rogue. "We're hyperspace trailblazers…but our ship crashed and was taken over by many animals."

"I see." The man pulled back a tattered hood. His entire face was in a state of disarray. It was heavily scarred and covered in a wild beard that seemed to have a life of its own. He looked at everything with immense concentration, however. When he moved, Rogue caught a faint glint of something tube-like and metal hanging from his belt.

_A lightsaber!_

The old man's eyes flashed. "You two are strong…in more ways than you know."

Rogue suddenly realized what he was referring to. The way that that blaster had almost eagerly leapt into his hand…

He gave a huge smile to the old man. "If you'll excuse us for a moment…"

He pulled Raven into the bushes, practically overflowing with glee. "This is so awesome! We have the Force! This is even better than a midnight snack of potato chips and chocolate milk!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Sometimes it amazes me how little sense you make."

The pair returned from the bushes. The old man nodded at them.

"I must thank you again for helping us take out those troopers."

Rogue shrugged. "It wasn't much, after all, stormtroopers are the only ones stupid enough to wear _white armor_ in the middle of a _jungle_."

The old man nodded and smiled again. "There is an Imperial mining operation on this planet. We were prisoners in their compound, but managed to escape with the help of other miners. There isn't much time. More stormtroopers will be coming when they realize their fellow troopers are missing."

He tossed his blaster to a Twi'lek in an orange jumpsuit. Rogue and Raven hefted their own blasters. Rogue felt much better about the situation now that they had sufficient weaponry.

The party started to move in the direction the prisoners had been heading originally. Rogue followed, looking at the trees. Raven wasn't satisfied, however.

"Excuse me, but where are we going?"

The old man turned his head slightly. "To a secret place."

Raven wasn't impressed. "A secret place, huh? Just how secret is this place?"

"So secret that not even the bravest of the brave dare to seek it out, for they fear the local legend. So secret that it holds immense power for any, good or evil, that stand in its wake. So secret that a team of Bothan spies high off of glitterstim couldn't find it. So secret that-"

"Hey!" Rogue said. "Annoying repetition is supposed to be my gag!"

"Sorry." The old man continued onward, defeated.

As the going became tougher, they had to hack their way through vines and leaves. Rogue stared at the old man's back. Something didn't match up. He could place it, but he had a feeling of foreboding…

"Here we are."

As they whacked through another covering of vegetation, the party came out in a small clearing. Directly in front of them was a temple similar to the one that Rogue and Raven had first appeared in. The ragged old man led the way inside, but held up a hand when the other prisoners tried to follow. He motioned for Rogue and Raven to join him.

The trio went deeper and deeper into the temple, sometimes having to feel along the walls to find their way. Rogue tripped over his own feet a few times.

Finally, after a long trek, they saw a light. It was a pinkish glow that seemed to give off a pulsation inside of Raven. She felt more alive and aware…and could also feel, like Rogue, that something was very wrong…

They stepped into the room. The pink light was radiating from a crystal in the center. The old man spoke. "This is the Kaiburr crystal. It has the ability to enhance the power of the Force in sensitive beings to incredible levels."

It was true. Just being near it, Rogue and Raven could feel the living Force pulsating through them.

The old man's eyes flashed. "And…I'll use it to end your foolish intrusion."

He reached into his tattered rags and pulled out a lightsaber. A blazing crimson blade erupted into existence, shattering the calm. Rogue and Raven stood ready.

_ On second thought, maybe the comfort of those blasters was a mistake._

The old man howled and jumped at them, lightsaber held high. It swung in an arc, but Raven ducked with lightning speed. Rogue decided to try something. He concentrated with all his might, holding up a hand…

…And the old man went flying across the room. The lightsaber rolled across the stone floor, out of reach.

The old man didn't give up. He launched a blistering attack of Force lightning from across the chamber. Raven stood, and raised her hands. The crystal flashed brightly. The Force lightning was suddenly absorbed into Raven's hands, and she took only a second to hurl it back in the old man's direction. His focus was still on attacking, and he could not block the counterattack. He was blown into the air, in a whirlwind of pure Force energy. When he hit the floor, both Rogue and Raven could feel no life coming from him. The crystal gave another strong glow, and his body disappeared.

Raven slumped onto the floor in exhaustion. "Well, this just proves that not everyone is worthy of being a main character."

Rogue spotted something on the stone floor. It appeared to be part of the crystal. The battle had no doubt shaved it off. It gave off an internal glow. Rogue decided that it might be worth holding on to.

**Author's note: This is one of the shorter chapters. They seem to be getting longer as I write...**

**Please review!**


	3. Escape!

Chapter 3

Rather than face their adversary's comrades, Raven employed use of the Blonde Crutch to break away at the stone wall of the temple, proving an escape route for the pair.

"Hurry!" cried Raven, jumping through the hole and running back into the jungle.

Rogue was intrigued by the crystal. He didn't want to leave so soon…but shouts from the front of the temple convinced him otherwise. He dashed through the escape hole after Raven. He stood up only to see Raven hefting the Blonde Crutch.

"What took you so long?" Raven shouted.

Rogue held up his hands in futile self-defense. "Sorry, but you can hit me later. Those other prisoners are _following us!_ If we don't move, they'll end up on top of us!"

Raven gave another eye roll. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Why do you think I was trying to get you to hurry?"

Rogue sighed. "Then let's not waste any more time."

They began to sprint in a random direction, the vine-choked trees flying by.

"So," said Raven when they stopped to catch their breath. "What now?"

"I suggest we try to find the mining operation the prisoners were talking about. Maybe we could steal a starship and get off this crazy rock." Rogue was toying with his new Force powers, rolling a rock along the damp path that came dangerously close to Raven's feet.

Raven was still skeptical. "How do we know they were telling the truth? After all, I doubt that _anyone _would have been able to capture that Dark Jedi."

"Raven, he was about to kill us. Usually, if killers are gonna kill, they won't lie to their captors because they think they'll soon be dead anyway."

"Still, none of this seems to b- Ahh!"

Raven tripped over the rock that Rogue had been rolling. She did a dramatic somersault in the air before landing flat on her face.

Rogue stood over her. "Raven?"

"Mmfmhm."

"You should be more careful when walking with people who are Force-sensitive."

Raven, still lying on the ground, lifted her head and stared at Rogue's retreating figure. Suddenly a rock shot out and hit him in the back of the head.

"Yeah," said Raven, getting up. "They might throw rocks at you."

Rogue turned around slowly. "Yeah," he said as another rock went rocketing at Raven. "And they HURT!"

Raven dodged without even blinking and the rock went hurtling through the underbrush. With dramatic effect, she pulled the Blonde Crutch from behind her back. Rogue called a nearby tree branch to his hand and twirled it experimentally.

Raven laughed, fire burning in her eyes. "Oh, it's on!"

There was then an instantaneous rock barrage, raining down on the combatants like a hailstorm. Rogue and Raven used their respective weapons to deflect rocks while at the same time shouting taunts back and forth. Raven hurled rocks at Rogue's face.

"Take that, you Sith scum!" Rogue screamed.

"Come to the Dark Side! There are delicious chocolate chip pastry treats!" Raven shot back.

"What was that?" came a shout from the trees.

Instantly the rocks froze in place and dropped to the ground. Raven rolled into the bushes with Rogue close behind.

"It came from over here!" One of the ragged "prisoners" burst into the clearing, walking a few steps before he promptly tripped over a rock. Raven could barely contain a snicker from her hiding place in the bushes. He stood up.

"These kriffing rocks are gonna drive me crazy!"

He kicked one, only to have it land a few feet away and cause his foot even more pain. He rubbed the back of his head where there was already a red welt.

Raven was determined to give him another one. She raised herself slowly out of the bushes, Blonde Crutch held high…

…Only to duck back down when he was joined by his Twi'lek and Weequay companions.

"Calm down you imbecile!" said the Twi'lek harshly. "You're overreacting. You probably just heard a lizard or some other kind of blasted creature. Besides, do you want the Coway to find us? Let's get out of here."

They started to walk in the same direction that Rogue and Raven had been heading moments before. Raven turned to Rogue. "What do they mean by 'the Coway?'"

"They're the natives of this planet, the equivalent of South American Indians back home on Earth."

Raven shrugged. "Whatever. I don't know what they're so scared about."

They crept out of the bushes cautiously. Rogue turned his head and scanned the area. "I think it's clear."

Raven's head appeared next. "Um, hello? We can sense life forms with the Force?"

Rogue shook his head. "This is going to be a challenge to get used to."

They started walking again, this time in a different direction. Rogue stared up at the canopy, lost in thought.

"Hey, Raven, I've been thinking."

"About dying?"

Rogue gestured with his hands in exasperation. "I think our readers are getting really tired of all the aimless walking around. We have no idea where we're going. I, for one, could use a nice, healthy change of pace! How about y-"

WHAM! Rogue crashed into a tree. Raven rolled her eyes.

As the plot would have it, the aimless walking brought Rogue and Raven to another cleared area…but something was different about it. Peering around a tree, they saw that it was a mining town. Aliens of all stripes walked around, all wearing the same orange jumpsuit that the "prisoners" had been wearing. Near the center stood a few stormtroopers, no doubt to remind everyone that they were still under the heavy thumb of the Empire.

"I think," said Raven with certainty "we found the mining operation."

Rogue was impatient. He was officially tired of the jungle, eager to move on.

_Surely they have some type of starship storage area or something. This is backwater, so they probably won't have very streamlined ships. Even so, with our Force abilities, we shouldn't have a problem stealing a ship. After all, we've already established that we're main characters. We can't die! I might be placing too much confidence in that, but I hope it can get us off this cr-_

"We need to blend in."

Raven's pronouncement interrupted Rogue's annoying repetition. He shook thoughts from his head. "Right."

Soon Rogue and Raven were wearing orange jumpsuits over their black ones. It wasn't hard to steal jumpsuits. Raven simply used the Blonde Crutch to knock out a man pushing a cart full of them. The pair began to walk openly in the streets.

"Remember," Raven hissed. "Act casual."

That was when Rogue had an idea. He grinned. "There's something I've always wanted to try…"

He started to move in the direction of the stormtroopers. He walked up to the closest one and struck up a conversation. Raven caught the wave of a hand. When he was finished, Rogue walked back over to Raven with an devilish ear-to-ear grin on his face. Suddenly, the trooper Rogue had just spoken to ran around wildly, emptying his blaster at the sky.

Raven watched with curiosity. "What the heck did you tell him?"

"I convinced him that it was raining 'rebel scum.' On Earth, we would call this paranoid schizophrenia."

The two used the ensuing pandamonium to leave.

. . .

After more searching, they came across the starships Rogue had hoped for. They were in an enclosed fence-like structure. stormtroopers paced along the outside, but seemed bored and uninterested in guard duty.

Rogue and Raven were perched in a tree. Rogue produced electrobinoculars from somewhere. Raven stared quizzically at him. "Where'd you get those?"

Rogue shrugged. "Somewhere. Where'd you get the Blonde Crutch?"

Raven smiled. "Somewhere."

"Exactly."

Rogue continued to stare through the electrobinoculars. "Hmm…I can see a _Theta_-class T2-c shuttle, a _Lambda-_class, and…hey! There's even an HWK-290! Let's steal that one!"

"Blah, blah, blah, nerd! Gimme those." She swiped the electrobinoculars from Rogue's hands and scanned the alignment of ships. "Hmm…"

"What else do you see?"

Raven kept staring. "Which ship is which?"

"The longer one is the HWK-290. The white one is the _Lambda_-class, and the gray one is the _Theta_-class."

"Hey, you're right! The HWK thingamajig does look awesome! Let's steal it!"

Raven's eyes were glowing with excitement. "I've never really stolen anything before! This'll be so cool!"

Approaching the enclosure wasn't much of a problem. Being overly cautious, they hid behind the closest tree when they heard a noise. However, they were still in the middle of a jungle, so there were a lot of noises. Raven would give a small squeak before dashing behind a tree.

Rogue suspected she might be a little afraid. After all, she'd just been transported by unknown means to a strange planet and was about to commit grand theft starship. Who wouldn't be?

He was puzzled when she appeared from behind a tree smiling and stifling a

giggle.

"What's so funny?"

"You jump whenever I squeak," she said between giggles.

Rogue looked defiant. "I do not!"

They were almost to the enclosure when a higher-pitched squeak came from behind Rogue. He jumped and let out a yelp, causing him to trip over a rock (which looked suspiciously like the rock that started the great War of the Rocks) and send him rolling down a hill, hitting the duracrete wall with a thud.

"Do to."

Raven jumped up to the wall and started to climb.

"Wait up!" shouted Rogue as he rushed to follow suit.

For a ship compound in a prison colony, the structure was very under-guarded. There were only three stormtroopers standing guard around the ships. Rogue and Raven dropped silently, using the Force to cushion their fall. Unfortunately, the troopers were all arranged in a circle, talking. Any one of them could look and see them. While motioning to Raven, Rogue picked up some of their conversation.

"This is lousy," said one stormtrooper. "The officers are inside the lounge drinking caf and playing holochess, and we're stuck out here guarding ships that no one is going to try to hijack."

"Sure," said the one next to him. "But I don't want to end up like that crazy trooper that shot his entire company out of boredom and be strapped to a torture rack."

Suddenly, Raven, in a flash of blonde, appeared behind the first trooper, Blonde Crutch raised. The other stormtroopers leveled their blasters. The first stormtrooper backed away warily. "Uhh, guys? W-what's going on?"

He was then clubbed, perhaps fatally, with the Crutch. The other Stormtroopers fired, but Raven proved too fast for their bolts. Rogue was sprinting to the HWK-290. Raven kicked one stormtrooper's gun out of his hands and stunned the other one with a fist uppercut. While they were still dazed, Raven took off toward the HWK-290. She dashed inside to find Rogue grappling with his own stormtrooper.

"Start…urgh…the ship!"

Raven's face turned to a look of panic. "How?"

"Push the-" Rogue hurled the trooper over. "-green button, then pull on the lever on the left and then look out the window and steer!"

The repulsorlifts ignited, setting all the occupants off balance. Raven barely cleared the top of the enclosure as they blasted off. Soon, they were clearing the atmosphere. Raven was flying the ship, clumsily, but successfully nonetheless. After clearing orbit, they flew with a burning pace set by the engines.

"Ahh!" Raven sighed in relief. Rogue finally got a lucky punch, catching the trooper off guard. He used the opportunity to shove him into a cargo compartment. There was a loud clunk and then muffled banging.

"So what are we gonna do with him?" Raven gestured at the compartment. "Can we keep him? I wanna pet!"

Raven began tugging on Rogue's sleeve. He stared at her in horror.

"Raven! He's a human being!"

"But I'll take care of everything! Feeding and hair brushing and-"

Rogue cut her off. "Raven, if you're going to be in the pilot's seat, you have to pay attention! I don't want to get stuck in a gravity well that would take us far from where we want to be."

"Yippee!" Raven spun around in the pilot's seat.

Rogue sat down in the copilot's seat slowly. _So, so weird…_

He tapped in a few commands on the console. Suddenly, he was seized by a sensation.

_Rogue. You must go to Ilum. There, you and Raven will create things that you will need in the future, things of great power that will serve you well._

Rogue suddenly became aware of reality again. _What was that? A voice…_

Raven noticed. "Hey, Rogue. Is something up?"

"We need to go to Ilum."

Raven looked at him, puzzled. "Ilum? Where is that?"

"It's one of the planets that were the most important to the Jedi. It's a snowy place with blistering blizzards and Gorgodon nests. The crystal caves of Ilum produce rare crystals that are hugely important in lightsaber creation. In the caves, the Jedi have to overcome natural trials to succeed. There's only one complication: we're on the edge of the Expansion Region. Ilum is in the Unknown Regions, on the other side of the galaxy, and the quickest way to get to Ilum is a hyperspace jump from Metellos that only a Force-sensitive can perform, in the Core, near Coruscant."

Raven had a blank look on her face. She shook her head twice. "Sorry, what? Wait, go to Ilum through Metellos, got it."

Raven never ceased to amaze Rogue. "Ok, Raven. Punch it!"

"Punch what?"

"Never mind. Pull that lever."

She did, and the stars became blue lines as the ship blasted off faster than the speed of light.


	4. The Stormtrooper and the Pirates

Chapter 4

The starlines seemed to never end. Raven wondered how Rogue could find hyperspace so interesting. He seemed to stare transfixed out the window. Maybe it was a nerd thing.

He shook his head again. Raven sighed. They were shaking their heads _way _too much. He stood up with purpose.

"I'm going to interr- I mean, talk to our pris- I mean, pet."

Raven rolled her eyes. She spun around rapidly in the pilot's seat while Rogue went to the storage compartment.

He rapped harshly on the metal. "Hello in there! I need to have a few words with you."

There was a muffled grunt from inside and some shuffling. Rogue yelled again.

"If I'm going to talk to you, I'm gonna have to let you out of here, so you have to swear on the wall in there that you won't try anything."

There was the sound of armor slapping metal and an exasperated voice saying something. Rogue shrugged.

"Close enough."

He undid the lock and the stormtrooper tumbled out. Rogue hefted his blaster at him. He brought the trooper back to the cargo storage…and was surprised to find that there was an entire lounge where empty storage space should have been. He raised an eyebrow at the trooper.

"Did you renovate this ship?"

The trooper nodded. He seemed reluctant to do anything but sit numbly.

Rogue sat down on a plush seat. There was a holochess table in front of a couch and a freezer in the far corner. The stormtrooper sat opposite Rogue.

"Ok, now since I'm the one with the gun, you're going to answer my questions. Got it?"

The trooper nodded again.

Rogue folded his hands. "Let's start with your name. What is it?"

The trooper raised his head slowly. "TK-894."

"Is that all?"

The trooper nodded, yet again.

"Tell me how you got to Mimban."

The stormtrooper paused for a moment, then continued.

"Grammel **[1]** got wind of an 'invasion' of our mining operation by forces unknown, so he sent a few extra squads of stormtroopers to patrol the ship compound. He wouldn't say where he got the intel, only that we were to report to the compound. The only 'invasion' that was ever attempted was by you and your blonde friend."

Rogue nodded. "It seems to check out." He held the blaster to the trooper's head. "Will those Imps follow us?"

The trooper stared from the blank recesses of his helmet. "Wait and see."

Suddenly there was a loud thump and the door slid open with a hiss.

"FRANK!" Raven squealed from the doorway. "Rogue, get that blaster away from Frank's head!"

Rogue whipped around. "Raven, WHO'S WATCHING THE NAVICOMPUTER? Do you WANT to get sucked into a supernova? Did you pull the ship out of hyperspace?"

Raven blinked. "Was I supposed to?"

"YES!"

Raven shrugged.

Rogue beat his head against the wall before dashing to the front of the ship. After a few seconds, Raven whirled and began to talk rapidly to the dazed stormtrooper.

"So, Frank, can I call you Frank? Ok good! How's the ol' Empire holding up these days? What year is this? We just came from somewhere else so we don't really know where in time we landed. Are you married? Do you have kids? What are their names? What's your birthday? What's your favorite color? If you had to be an animal, what would it be? What-"

Raven was interrupted by Rogue bursting through the door in a manner similar to Raven's.

"Remember," He looked at Raven. "Annoying repetition is MY gag." He pointed his blaster at the stormtrooper. "Please tell me someone installed guns on this thing."

The stormtrooper and the blonde stared back at him as his face hardened.

"We've got company."

. . .

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. Then, like they were exercising telepathy, the trio leapt up and rushed to the bow of the ship. Rogue began rapidly punching commands into the console.

"It looks like an _Acclamator II_-class assault ship **[2]**, and it's already spewing TIEs. We could possibly outrun it, but it would mean sacrificing shielding for engine power. And those TIEs are gaining fast."

Frank was ecstatic. "I'll be saved!"

WHAM! The Blonde Crutch suddenly appeared in a wild attack.

"You're my stormtrooper now, Frank," Raven sniffed, looking like a lost puppy.

Rogue groaned. "Great. She's upset." Almost as soon as he said this, however, the corners of his mouth turned upward into a smug grin. "Wait…she's upset!"

The stormtrooper turned his head to look at Rogue. Rogue imagined a face of surprise under the helmet.

"I just had a brilliant idea!"

With this inspiration, Rogue turned Raven's head toward the console, where pixelated images of the wedge-shaped assault craft and dots that represented TIE starfighters populated the screen.

"Raven, you want to keep Frank right?"

She nodded slowly and looked at Rogue suspiciously. "Yeah."

"Well, _they_," Rogue jabbed his figure at the dots on the screen, "are here to take him away."

In an instant, Raven's eyes became awash in an angry red. She whipped the ship around in a typhoon of rage.

"DIE!" she screamed, sending the ship on a crash course for cruiser. Seeing that things were going to get very ugly, very fast, Rogue dashed for the guns he knew had to be somewhere on the ship. He found them where the extra cargo space used to be. He flexed his fingers, sitting down, ready to do some sharpshooting, when there was a tremendous lurch and everything went black for a few seconds. Rogue fought panic, but after he saw the wreckage of a TIE fighter in his viewscreen, he realized what had happened.

His friend had somehow diverted every ounce of power to the forward shields and had _rammed_ the approaching fighter, shattering its fragile design. At the front of the ship and under his helmet, Frank gaped. Rogue mentally added this to his list of crazy Raven stunts.

The remaining horde of fighters starting blasting. Rogue knew then that Frank had figured out what he knew all along: the Imps weren't attempting a rescue operation. They were making sure no one would escape and talk about the little mining operation.

Frank was expendable.

Raven, lost in a furious trance, would soon realize that Frank had just become a target of his own troops. Rogue wondered absentmindedly how the drama would play out as he blasted several TIEs. As he fired furiously, he noticed that the TIEs were strangely easy to destroy. After the last one exploded in a spiraling fireball, Rogue felt the ship turn around. Puzzled, he ran back up to the ship's front.

"Hold on!" Raven screamed, and she diverted all power to the forward thrusters. She was going to ram the cruiser!

"No!" Rogue jumped from across the room and shoved Raven away from the controls. The ship took a hard left, out of range of the _Acclamator_'s turbolaser batteries.

Rogue wiped the sweat off his forehead in relief. "Phew!"

He had forgotten something, however. Raven was still in the insanity trance that Rogue himself had induced, and was not happy about her plans being interfered with.

"YOU PUSHED ME!"

Rogue didn't like what he saw next. "Aw, sithspit!"

He ducked just in time to avoid a crushing blow from the Blonde Crutch. It left a huge gash in the metal where he had been just seconds before. Before Raven could strike again, however, the entire ship shook violently. Rogue was hurled into the storage area, and everything went black.

. . .

It was still dark when Rogue regained consciousness. He started to lift his head, only to be rewarded by a sharp pain.

"Augh!"

The pain won over Rogue, and he collapsed on the cold, solid metal of the floor. _I should never have let Raven pilot the ship…_

Rogue eyes suddenly snapped open.

_She's piloting the ship right now!_

Ignoring the pain in his head, Rogue staggered upright, using the wall as a support. He moved slowly to the cockpit door and pressed the switch to open it.

Raven sat at the controls, calm and motionless.

_Holy [insert a swear word of your choice here]_ **[3]**_! I've never seen Raven so quiet! The battle fever must have worn off. But something seems amiss…_

"Raven?" He walked up and stood behind her. She began struggling in the chair, and it seemed as if there was some kind of restraint placed on her. She violently wrenched her head around to face Rogue.

She'd been gagged!

Rogue stared in surprise. "Who-? FRANK! That dirty, rotten, no good son of a bantha! I told you he couldn't be trusted!"

Raven attempted to kick him in the knee but the binds on her chair kept her leg from reaching far enough. She started yelling under the gag.

Rogue backed away a step. "Ok, calm down! I'll get you out of there!"

He limped back behind the chair and undid the knots with fumbling fingers. When she could move again, Raven stretched out. "Ah, that's much better."

"What happened?"

"It wasn't Frank!" Raven blurted, shooting forward in the chair. "There are pirates aboard!"

"As in a band of armed and dangerous aliens with scum written all over them?" Rogue asked excitedly.

"Yes! When the ship shook I thought we'd been hit by something. It turns out that the pirates had arrived and were attacking both the cruiser and us. Before I knew it three appeared right behind me and knocked me out with the butt of a blaster. I didn't even have time to get out the Blonde Crutch!"

Rogue's face turned determined. "Well, if they're still here, it means they're still snooping around. Let's see if we can find them."

The two turned around and went back into the storage area. After walking for a few seconds in the pitch black, they heard crashes and yells. They started to run. When they reached the source of the din, Rogue and Raven were astonished.

Three mercenaries sifted through the remains of the cushioned seat in the media room. Two were Trandoshans and one was human. Frank was behind them, kneeling and begging for mercy.

"Please! Not the holochess table!"

With their backs to the door, the mercenaries were taken by surprise and Rogue and Raven tackled the two Trandoshans. Immediately after attacking, Rogue thought about the smartness of the maneuver. Trandoshans had almost as much brute strength as Wookiees. However, Rogue and Raven called upon the Force to help. Soon, each had a Trandoshan in a headlock. In a few swift motions, both were knocked out cold and dropped to the floor. They turned toward the remaining mercenary. They started towards him.

Then the heard a click. A blaster rifle. The human had a gun pointed at Frank's head.

"One more step and the stormtrooper dies."

"Aw, sithspit," Rogue grumbled.

"Does that include a _backward _step?" Raven grinned.

"Yes!" The mercenary snarled, jabbing the blaster at Frank's head.

"How about left?"

"Yes!"

"Right?"

"_Yes!_"

"…Kitty corner?"

There was silence.

"…Yes?" The pirate asked with uncertainty.

"A question! It's not an answer, so YOU FAIL!"

She took a diagonal step.

"RAVEN!" Rogue shouted.

"He never said I couldn't move diagonally!" She said defensively.

"Well I'll shoot 'im ANYWAY!" The mercenary had a crazed, bloodshot look in his eyes, screaming away.

"Parley!" Raven shouted, still moving.

The pirate and Rogue stared at her. "Huh?" they said in unison.

"Parley! You can't hurt us under parley! Pirate code!"

The mercenary stared mournfully. "But I'm a-"

"Space pirate!" Interrupted Raven. "Sea pirate, CD pirate, internet pirate, flying birthday cake pirate, it's all the same."

"Stop _moving!_" The pirate shouted. His blaster hand had started shaking.

But Raven was having too much fun. "What if I trace the opposite diagonal?"

"RAVEN!" Rogue shouted again.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The mercenary put his hands over his ears. "I can't take it anymore!"

He dropped his blaster and started running around in circles around the cabin, occasionally stopping to beat his head against the wall and make odd animal noises that sounded like a combination of a Gorax and a Kowakian monkey-lizard. Suddenly, he dropped to the floor. Rogue walked over to examine the body.

"Dead as a doornail," He proclaimed. He turned around and started speaking to an imaginary person. "Let the records show that Raven's craziness has the power to fatally harm anyone that is not already used to it."

Frank shakily stood up. His knee pads clanked together furiously. "I take back everything I said about you guys."

Rogue helped him up. "As long as you don't try to turn us over to the Empire, we're on good terms."

He raised his fist in the air.

"Next stop: Corellia!"

**Footnotes:**

**[1] - ****The Captain-Supervisor of the Imperial mining operation on Mimban**

**[2] - If you aren't as crazy about Star Wars as Rogue, then you should just picture the last scene from Attack of the Clones when the clones are marching onto ships. The ships are the first class of this ship. The second class is less of a transport and more of an attack ship.**

**[3] - This is my favorite quote from **_**Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment**_** (Disclaimer: we do not own it).**

**Please review!  
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	5. The Continuing Quest

Chapter 5

Once again, they were in hyperspace.

Raven had long since fallen asleep in the co-pilot's chair. After thinking about the wisdom of letting her drive any longer, Rogue had decided that their lives were all safer if he was driving. Frank was watching holonet dramas in the lounge.

Even so, he had to admit, hyperspace was pretty dull. He felt his eyes begin to droop…

Suddenly, he remembered that he had to exit hyperspace in the next three seconds. He grabbed the lever and pulled.

The starlines shifted and became static dots on the dark void of space. In the window was Corellia, in all its glory. It was the planet of legends. It reminded Rogue of Earth. When would they return?

A light started blinking on the ships comm console. It came from onworld, using an open frequency. Rogue pressed the button to allow it.

"Unidentified freighter, this is Corellia Space Traffic Control. Please state your cargo and business."

"Corellia Space Traffic Control, this is…"

_Crap._

Rogue had forgotten to name the ship and modify its transponder codes to match. He swore under his breath. "Hold on a minute please, Corellia Space Traffic Control."

He swiveled around in his seat to reach the ship's internal comm system.

"FRANK! GET UP HERE!"

Seconds later, the stormtrooper appeared at the door to the cabin. "What's all the screaming for?"

Rogue stood up and shook him by the shoulders. "_What did you name the ship?_"

"Um…"

Rogue wanted to beat his head against the wall, but he thought that readers wouldn't appreciate it. "Are you saying that you never named this ship?"

"Yeah…"

Rogue threw his hands up in the air. "Great. Just great. We're going to have to identify ourselves, and we can't."

"I guess we'll have to think of something pretty fast."

Rogue hailed the planet again. "Corellia Space Traffic Control, this is…um…_Galactic Voyager_, requesting permissi-"

"WAIT!" shouted Raven, who was suddenly awake. "I like _Raven Voyager_ better!"

"_Raven!_" Rogue hissed. "_They're on the line!_"

"But I want _Raven Voyager!_"

Frank stood in the back, massaging his helmet as if there was a goatee growing there. "Personally, I prefer the _World Voyager_."

Rogue glared at him. "You had your chance to name it, nerf herder. It's my turn!"

"No!" Raven cut in. "I saved all your sorry butts from those pirates!"

"True," Frank agreed. But neither Rogue nor Raven heard him. They were too busy trying to keep each other away from the comm system.

"_Galactic!_"

"_Raven!_"

Rogue ended up at the console first. "Corellia Space Traffic Control, this is _Galactic Voyager _reque- OW!"

The Blonde Crutch clattered to the floor as Raven rushed to the comm system instead. "Sorry, Corellia Space Traffic Control. My copilot can be a bit…assertive at times. This is _Raven Voyager_, requesting permission to land. We have no cargo and only wish to make a routine refueling."

There was an audible sigh on the other end. "Very well. You will land in docking bay 1138. Enjoy your stay on Corellia."

There was a click as the frequency closed, and silence permeated the ship. The only sound was the humming of the ship's engines.

Rogue rubbed the new lump on his head. "Thanks a lot, Raven. We'll be lucky if we don't have CorSec agents swarming us when we land."

Raven beamed. "Always a pleasure!"

. . .

Rogue brought the ship to a steady landing in the docking bay. They had landed in the city of Coronet, a bustling metropolis with a first-rate spaceport. Frank came up behind Rogue in the pilot's chair.

"I think I'll stay here and take care of the ship."

Rogue nodded. "No problem. Anyway, I have somewhere I'd like to visit while we're here."

Raven gave him a quizzical look. "And where would that be?"

It was Rogue's turn to smile. "You'll find out."

They stepped off the landing ramp, now wearing the original black jumpsuits. The night sky was full of stars. There was a waiting speeder with a droid pilot nearby. The pair started to walk over to it, but Rogue stopped short.

"Aw, man!" He moaned. "We don't have any credits! And we can't mind trick a droid!"

While he was hanging his head in misery, Raven reached into a pocket that had somehow appeared on her jumpsuit and pulled out a stack of credits.

Rogue stared, dumbfounded. "Where'd you get those?"

Raven started flipping through the stack. "Frank gave me some. Just in case."

They walked up to the speeder and Raven started waving the credits in the droid's face.

"That will be sufficient," it said in a metallic voice. "What is your destination?"

Rogue pondered a moment. While he was thinking, he felt a tremor from inside of him.

"Take us to the finest restaurant in Coronet!" He looked over at Raven. "I hope you have enough credits to cover my ravenous appetite."

Raven only rolled her eyes in an understanding way.

. . .

The speeder zoomed through the airways of the magnificent city. Glittery lights from the finer districts twinkled against the shining metal that covered buildings and transports.

They soon began to slow down, coming to a stop in front of a glowing, palace-like structure that looked like it had blasted straight out of Las Vegas.

"Destination reached," intoned the droid. "Please deposit payment."

A disc-drawer like compartment opened in the droid's torso. Raven deposited a few credits into it. She smiled. "Keep the change."

"If that is what you wish, fine lady."

A few feet away Rogue began chuckling under his breath. Raven, with her new Force-enhanced hearing, heard and took a swing with the Blonde Crutch. Rogue caught it with two fingers. "Raven, we're going to have to be less violent here. It's a nice part of town."

Grumbling, she put down the Crutch. They walked inside the extravagant eatery.

Rogue had something on his mind besides food, but biological needs came before everything else. He started thinking about the food. Maybe he would have some tasty grilled nerf…

"Um, Rogue?"

He had never tasted nerf before, but he assumed it tasted a lot like chicken or beef. After all, the nerf was the equivalent of a cow on earth, so maybe there was such thing as a nerf burger…

"Rogue, you're making a mess."

Raven's voice pulled Rogue back into the real (or what seemed to be real) world. He looked downward…only to see that his food fantasies had caused him to drool on the duracrete sidewalk.

Raven inspected him. "Wow, you must be hungry."

Rogue glared. "Come on! I have lunch A at our high school and it's at 10:15! I haven't eaten in hours!"

Raven rolled her eyes, again. "Guys and food…"

All kinds of species were seated at tables around glowlamp chandeliers. Another droid approached our two main characters.

"How many are in your party?"

"Only two," said Rogue.

"Right this way, please."

They followed the droid to a table by the window with booths on both sides. They sat. The droid presented them with datapads, which Rogue assumed to be menus. They accepted them. Raven started scrolling through the menu options.

"I will be your server this evening. Is there anything else you require?"

Rogue nodded. "Could we get two glasses of water, please?"

"Right away."

The droid rolled off in the direction of the kitchen. Raven continued to be engrossed by the menu. "Hey, Rogue."

"What?"

"What the heck is all this stuff?"

Rogue took a look at his own menu. It appeared that a choice was selected and then sent back to the kitchen from the datapad. "I'd suggest starting with the soups. They should be pretty simple."

Raven looked at the choices for a few more seconds. "Hm, this Creamed Rishi Corn soup doesn't look to bad. Hey, they got the recipe from that one planet."

"Coruscant?"

"Yeah. What are you getting?"

Rogue rubbed his hands together. "I've always wanted to try a grilled nerf steak…"

They selected their choices and placed the menus on the end of the table. "So, Rogue, what are we doing here?"

Rogue leaned forward and lowered his voice. "There's a place I wanted to check out. We need parts for-"

"Your food and drink, kind humans."

The droid was back. It held in its hand two steaming dishes and two glasses. Rogue hungrily accepted the nerf steak and Raven stared at her bowl of soup. The droid began to roll away. But Raven wasn't completely satisfied.

"HEY!" she shouted to the retreating droid. It returned almost as quickly as it had left. Raven adopted a complaining tone. "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup."

It was true. A bug, looking very much like a mutated fly, was lying dead in the calm stillness of Raven's soup. A pink, moist creature curled out of her mouth and hung outside the side of her lip as a noise of disgust escaped her throat: "BLECH!"

The droid quickly scooped up the bowl of soup, almost sloshing it all over the table.

"I'm terribly sorry ma'am, we will bring you another bowl of soup at absolutely no charge!"

It scurried away, obviously flustered and in a hurry. Rogue sighed. _Distractions…_

As he began cutting at the nerf with a large knife, Rogue continued. "As I was saying, we need parts for lightsabers. There's a large junkyard known as-"

"Your soup, ma'am."

The droid interrupted once again to bring Raven a fresh bowl of soup, again almost sloshing it everywhere. There was no fly in the new bowl.

"Do you require anything else, good humans?"

Raven was starting to become annoyed. "No, that'll be all for now, thank you."

She realized that she too was hungry, and started to take large spoonfuls of soup and shove them into her mouth. Between bites, Rogue continued talking. "As I was saying, there's a large junkyard known as The Pit to the locals, but it's in a bad part of town where offworlders tend to hang out called-"

"Hey!"

A Devaronian and his Ithorian companion were seated across from the pair. "You two are eating like wild banthas! Show some respect for other costumers!"

"That does it!" Raven slammed her palms on the table and started to stand up, but Rogue put a restraining hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me, this isn't a good place to start a fight."

Raven sat slowly back down, but kept a close hand to her belt. Rogue wondered what was there. Perhaps the Blonde Crutch could shrink?

Rogue continued. "As I was saying, it's in a bad part of town called Blue Sector, and we will have to stay sharp to avoid being sucked into a dishonorable establishment. Other than that-"

"Would you like any dessert, good humans?"

"HEY!" Raven was standing, at least a head taller than the droid. "I've had about enough of your appearances without warning. _I'm_ the only one that can do that. Understand?"

The droid cowered. "I-I'll t-take that as a n-no then?"

Several aliens from other tables were starting to stare. Others were starting to move slightly.

Rogue and Raven looked at each other. "Run!" they said in unison. Raven tossed a few credits on the table with a yell of "Keep the change!" and Rogue grabbed the last few bites of nerf and stuffed them in his mouth before dashing out the door.

. . .

After hitching a ride to Blue Sector, Rogue and Raven walked the streets, wary of any possible activity. They saw many alien species and hordes of shops and stores along the way. The light played across the buildings in such a way that it created sinister shadows.

Blending in was easy. No attention was drawn to the boy with the curly brown hair and girl with the drapes of blonde.

"Be careful," cautioned Rogue. "You never know what kind of crazy thing could happen here."

As if on cue, a man dressed in a dark cape leaped in front of them. He danced around for a few seconds before he spoke. "Hey," He thrust open his arms, and the cape whooshed open to reveal it covered in electronic gadgets that whizzed and buzzed around. "You wanna buy a chrono?"

Startled, Rogue and Raven backed away. "I think we'll pass," said Raven, continuing to move backward. Rogue pulled her around the chronometer salesman, moving more quickly in the direction they had originally been taking.

"My point exactly!" said Rogue. "There are crazies like that everywhere around here."

They managed to reach the edge of Blue Sector without too much trouble. Rogue, despite having a lack of direction to the junkyard, led Raven through a maze of dark alleys, keeping his blaster at the ready. Soon, they reached the point where they couldn't even see their own hands inches away from their faces. After a few more feet, Raven felt Rogue's hand in front of her.

"We're going to have to walk the thin overhang that's sticking out of this wall. Don't fall in."

Raven rolled her eyes, a gesture that was ineffective because of the dark. "That's reassuring."

They moved side to side, practically hugging the wall. Finally, what seemed like a parsec, Rogue stopped. "Ok, now jump!"

There was a whoosh of air in the dark and Rogue was gone. Raven jumped after him. Landing beside him, she asked, "How is it that you know exactly where to go?"

Rogue shrugged (another gesture rendered ineffective because of the dark). "I studied some readouts from the Holonet while you were sleeping."

Raven thought about hitting him with the Blonde Crutch, but thought that the darkness would make the experience less pleasurable on her end.

Rogue moved to the right and started feeling the walls. He found what he was looking for and suddenly lights came on. From the spreading glow of the lights, the pair could see endless piles of junk that stretched as far as the eye could see.

"Welcome," Rogue intoned, "to The Pit."

With those words, Rogue walked over to the nearest pile of trash and started rummaging through it. Raven walked over to him. "So what exactly are we looking for?"

Rogue listed things off while continuing to rummage. "We need some round pieces of heavy metal, power cells, insulating metal, lenses, magnetic metal, and some metal rings."

Raven began digging through the pile as well. In the course of a few minutes, the jumpsuit pockets were bulging like stockings on Christmas morning, clinking whenever Rogue or Raven moved.

"I think we have what we came for," Rogue said with satisfaction. They turned around…

…Only to come face to face with several tough looking gangsters.

They stood with smug grins on their faces, and several heavy blasters in their appendages. A green-skinned Rodian jabbed his blaster at Raven and started jabbering. She looked beside her.

"Rogue," she asked. "What is he saying?"

Rogue shrugged. "How should I know? I don't speak Rodese!"

A human stepped forward from the group. "You made a big mistake coming here, whelps."

Raven sighed. "Oh, please. You guys aren't the first group of mercenaries we've met. The last one wound up dead from sensory overload. You don't wanna mess with us."

Rogue tapped Raven on the shoulder. "Uh, Raven?"

Oblivious, she continued. "We're not from around here, so you don't know anything about us or what we're capable of doing. So I'd suggest you get your sorry butts out of here before we have to kick them into next week."

Rogue's tapping became more frantic. "Raven!"

Finally, she turned around. "What? Can't you see I'm teaching these losers a lesson on what it means to tangle with me?"

Rogue pointed to one of the mercs. "Do you know what that is?"

Raven saw he was gesturing at a creature that the mercenary held by a leash. It's striped fur was sticking up on end as it couched four-legged on razor sharp claws. It had many small eyes above a set of dagger-like teeth. Its long rat-like tail, split in two at the end, whipped around and a throaty sound that sounded like a combination of a growl and a purr came from within the deep recesses of its open mouth. Raven suddenly squealed. "Oooh! Kitty!"

Rogue grabbed her hand and restrained her from dashing at the creature. "That's a nexu! It would rip you to shreds if its master ordered it to! Stay back. I want to see what they're going to do."

Raven hung her head. "But I wanted to pet it…"

The human stepped forward. "We're tamers. And this is our turf. But since you've already decided to drop by, we'll see how well you match up against our newest trained beast!"

The group of tamers backed away as the lead tamer began to release the nexu from its leash. Raven saw Rogue tense up. He leaned over closer to talk in a low voice.

"We have no choice. We gotta fight it. But, if a Galactic Senator **[1]** was able to win without the Force, we should be able to win with it.

"Here's the plan. Nexus get tired really easily. All we have to do is anticipate its lightning-fast attacks until it's exhausted."

"Great," said Raven, getting into a ready position.

As soon as it was free from the leash, the nexu leapt high into the air with a burst of speed, preparing for a pounce. Rogue and Raven jumped away in opposite directions, and the nexu landed right where they had been standing. Its claws sent chips of duracrete from the floor flying in all directions.

"Wow!" Raven said. "That was-" She ducked to avoid a swinging claw at the same time Rogue jumped to avoid the lashing tail. "-fast!"

Rogue used the Force to climb up the wall, but back flipped off when the nexu clung to the wall with its claws. He landed on the ground and the nexu turned its head to hiss at him. A second later it was struck with a chunk of duracrete, thrown by Raven. It hissed in her direction and leapt at her, forgetting about Rogue. He stared in astonishment. Raven was taunting the beast!

She grinned a feral grin and rolled under the nexu as it pounced, using the momentum to aim a kick at its stomach, which connected and sent the nexu flying up in the air, only to land in a heap at its master's feet. He looked from the nexu to Raven and back to the nexu. Each tamer pulled out a blaster or a vibroblade, but the leader held up a hand. "No," he said "I will deal with them myself."

He extracted from his belt a thin tube-like device, and struck with it. A crack was heard, and a whip uncoiled itself from inside the handle. It was soon lit up with crackling electricity.

Raven looked at him with a smug grin. "It makes sense that a tamer would have a whip."

Rogue once again looked uneasy. "That's not just any whip. That's a shock whip. The merest contact with it could turn a being into a smoking corpse."

Raven frowned as if she didn't quite believe him. She then grabbed the Rodian and threw him forward at the same instant that the leader swung the whip. It encircled the alien and sent shock waves pulsing through his body, causing a reptilian scream to escape his throat. The whip recoiled, and the Rodian dropped to the ground, sizzling.

Raven watched in wonder. "Well, what do ya know? Rogue was right!"

The leader was so angry that his teeth could be heard grinding by Rogue from a yard away.

"I'll fix you!" he screamed, hurling the whip at Raven. She and Rogue both jumped to avoid it. In a kind of twisted way, it reminded her of games of jump rope back on Earth. In this case, it was just a significantly more dangerous game of jump rope.

The wielder finally gave up and decided to charge. Since he was giving up his advantage of distance, it was no trouble at all for Rogue to nonchalantly kick a chunk of duracrete at the leader's foot, causing him to trip over it. He hit the ground with a face plant and the whip flew from his hand and clattered on the floor. Raven walked forward, stepping on his finger. He yelped.

"Now," she said. "Do what I told you to do in the first place and scram!"

The tamers didn't need to be told twice. They ran off into the distance, too afraid to look back.

Rogue and Raven triumphantly headed out of the junkyard, their pockets jingling all the way.

. . .

Back in the comfort of their own ship, the pair emptied their pockets onto the table in the cabin. Frank, standing in the doorway, whistled in admiration.

"That's a lot of metal you guys have there."

It was true. There was metal of all shapes and sizes laid out on the table. Rogue sat staring at it, stroking an invisible goatee, as if envisioning what that big pile of junk was going to become. "Hey, Frank. Do you happen to have any goggles and welding torches?"

"As a matter of fact, I do!" he said, smiling underneath his helmet. He left the room to find them. Rogue headed for the cockpit.

Raven was in the pilot's chair. Rogue walked up to her. "Did you put the coordinates in the navicomputer?"

Raven turned and gave him a look. "Yes, mother."

Rogue ignored her. "Then come back to the cabin and we can start making hilts out of that garbage we collected."

Soon, both were heavily engrossed in shaping and fitting the metal. Raven, though inexperienced in welding, had a newfound interest in the blue flame that came out of the nozzle of the torch, and was excited to find that she could mold the metal with it. Rogue, carefully maneuvering his torch, had constructed a basic shape for his hilt.

Soon after hours of work, the hilts were finished. Rogue held his up with an insulating glove. It had a gold emitter with that was held in place by a thick tube of steel which served as the emitter matrix. A rubber handgrip that exposed part of a silvery metal interior encompassed the middle, and the end contained the power cell and several knobs that adjusted the blade length.

Raven raised her own finished hilt. It was covered in many places by electrum plating, and in other places by rubber handgrip. All mechanized structures were contained within, and only the silver emitter projected outward.

Rogue was giddy with joy. "Yes! I'll finally get to have my own lightsaber!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Nerd."

. . .

"Ok Raven, pull the lever!"

She did so, and the starlines of hyperspace transformed back into the distant dots of realspace.

Metellos loomed in the viewport, a swirling blue sphere surrounded by a cloudy atmosphere.

Raven turned to Rogue, her hands on her hips. "Ok, now what, Mr. Infinite Knowledge? You're supposed to know what to do!"

Rogue looked uneasy. "Um…"

This didn't satisfy Raven. "Well?"

Rogue nervously sat for a few more seconds before suddenly having an idea. "I know! Let's ask the holoprojector we found on Mimban!"

Rogue, Raven, and Frank clustered in a circle around the holoprojector. Without direct instruction, it projected an image of Ilum and spoke.

"Only a Force-sensitive can perform a hyperjump to Ilum. The Force must be utilized. That is all."

The holoprojector shut itself off.

Raven heaved a big sigh. "Well, that gave us absolutely no new information."

But Rogue wasn't listening. He was staring at the navicomputer. Suddenly, the navicomputer was already set and a course plotted. Rogue saw the coordinate numbers floating in his field of vision. He began to punch in the numbers. The vision departed as swiftly as it had come. He sat back in the chair, dazed.

Raven went up to him "Rogue?"

"Punch it, Raven!"

She smiled and promptly obliged.

. . .

Ilum was a luminous ball of ice, ominously growing larger out the window. Rogue leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "Well, we've finally reached our destination."

As soon as the ship entered the atmosphere, the front window of the cockpit was bombarded with snow. Rogue struggled with the controls. "Sithspit! All the sensors are dead!"

Raven gripped the back of his chair and Frank gripped the armrests of his own. Rogue had his tongue sticking out one side of his mouth. Raven knew that this meant Rogue was concentrating really hard.

Wind howled and chunks of snow and ice battered the ship with incredible force. Soon, Rogue called "Brace yourselves!"

There was a huge lurch and the passengers were almost thrown out of their seats. Raven shakily stood up.

"I was able to steer us into a snowdrift, so the ship should be fine," said Rogue.

"I think I'll stay with the ship again," said Frank shakily. "In fact…"

He began to rummage in a compartment, returning with two large parkas.

"You might want these."

. . .

Rogue and Raven trudged through the heavy snow. The ship could be very faintly seen plunged in a large snowdrift behind them. The wind lashed at the parts of their faces that were barely protruding from the fur-lined hoods of their parkas.

"The crystal caves shouldn't be too far from here!" Rogue had to shout to be heard over the howling wind.

"I hope you're right!" shouted Raven, struggling to keep her face covered by the parka's hood.

After several more minutes of trudging, Rogue could make out the faint outline of snow covered rocks.

"Raven! We're here!"

Raven, too engrossed in keeping herself covered, could not hear Rogue. "WHAT?"

Suddenly, a rumble could be heard softly above the howling wind. Rogue instantly realized what all their yelling had caused. The rumbling rose to a violent crescendo.

Rogue whipped around. "Raven! Look ou-"

Before he could finish his warning, Rogue was hit by the avalanche. After a few seconds of tumbling, he came to a halt. He was stuck for a few seconds, remembering the stories about mountain climbers covered in snow who became trapped there because they didn't know which way was up. He forced himself not to panic.

In the next instant, the snow moved slightly, and Rogue was seized by the shoulder. He let out a yelp, and his arms and legs flailed for a moment before he was pulled out of the snow. He turned around to see that his mysterious rescuer was none other than Raven. Only the tip of her nose and a few wisps of blonde hair protruded from the fur hood of her parka.

"Nice going, genius."

Rogue shook his head. "C'mon. Let's go."

They started to climb the rocks that had been uncovered by the avalanche. Upon reaching the top, Rogue raised his head over the natural barrier to appraise the status of the ground below. He didn't like what he saw, because he gulped and ducked his head much quicker than he had raised it. Raven was still climbing a few feet below him. When she reached him, she turned her head in puzzlement. "What is it this time, Rogue?"

He gave her a nervous look. "We're almost at the entrance to the caves all right, but there's a nest of gorgodons right in front of it. By my count, there are three, and they're all asleep."

Raven rolled her eyes. "There's always something…"

Her head poked over the wall to join Rogue's. He pointed to the at the rocks next to the cave entrance.

"We're going to have to climb across those to avoid getting near to the gorgodons."

They began to climb once more, the wind biting at their backs. In mid-movement, Rogue chanced a glance downward. The grey-brown, fur covered bodies of the sleeping gorgodons rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Shivering, Rogue continued his sideways climb.

Soon they reached the cave mouth. Rogue started to make his way downward. As he was carefully descending, a particularly large rock hit him on the head. Frustrated, he looked up, only to see that Raven was not taking the climb as seriously as he was. About to hiss something cautionary in her direction, he opened his mouth, but didn't get a chance to say anything due to a boulder falling in his path. Stifling a yelp, he quickly dodged it…but realized that there would soon be a bigger problem.

The boulder hit the snow with a dull thud. The gorgodons' ears twitched and their forms started to stir.

"Raven!" Rogue hissed. "They're awake!"

One stood on two legs and let out a savage and grumpy roar. It then crouched to all fours and started to charge.

"Jump!" cried Raven.

Both hit the snow, using the Force to cushion their fall, immediately making a run for the cave mouth. All three gorgodons were now leaping toward them, clearly angry about having their slumber disturbed. As soon as they were inside the cave, Rogue and Raven turned around, arms outstretched. Faces perspiring with immense concentration, they brought down another avalanche of snow and boulders crashing down in front of them, just barely cutting off the first gorgodon's pursuit.

"Well," said Raven matter-of-factly. "Looks like we're not going back that way."

. . .

The pair walked through the caves, strangely quiet after the roaring outside. The howling of the wind could still be heard, but it was overshadowed by the overhanging sound of depth from within.

Raven walked while looking at the twinkling crystals along the walls that provided faint light along the passage. "Why don't we just stop here and take a few of these crystals?"

Rogue only stared ahead as he moved forward. "They're too weak. They wouldn't power a lightsaber for very long. The deeper we go, the more powerful the crystals get."

They continued in silence for some time, each taking in the wonders of the caves. Soon, the tunnel widened and the crystals became brighter. At the same time, however, their sense of foreboding grew. With another step, Raven stopped.

Everything had gone black.

Raven had an immense phobia of the sinister type of darkness, and this type fit the description.

Rogue was nowhere to be found. It was like he had been taken away from her and enclosed outside a veil of shadow. And the darkness was closing in…

Raven began to feel pressure in her ears. The darkness _was _coming closer!

She tried to take a deep breath…and found that she couldn't. Desperately, she struggled against the oncoming void…

. . .

Rogue stopped. In front of him was a figure, masked in a cloak of shadow. Rogue felt his blood turn to ice. The figure radiated fear itself. It raised a blackened hand at Rogue, and he suddenly felt a searing, burning pain in his eyes. Screaming, he clutched at them in agony. Almost as soon as it had started, the pain stopped. Rogue opened his eyes…but saw only black. The fear rising within him, he blinked rapidly, with the same result.

He had gone blind.

Rogue fought terror, and then remembered something.

"I'm not afraid!" he said, directing it outward at whatever sinister shapes had appeared to test him. "This is nothing more than an illusion!"

In a flash, his vision returned. He could see the cave, just as it had been before the onset of the spirits. To his right, he could see Raven still clutched in her own personal torment. He rushed over to her, shook her, and shouted in her ear.

"Raven!"

. . .

Deep inside the darkness, Raven gasped, her lungs burning. _This totally sucks! _she thought as she madly clawed at the void. She was suffocating in the dark…alone. She was sure she wouldn't last much longer…

But just as she was about to slip away, she faintly heard a voice.

"Raven!" it said. "You have to let go of your fear!"

She concentrated, squeezing her eyes tightly. _I am not afraid, I am not afraid…_

Within seconds, she felt the cold stone of the cave floor on her cheek. Opening her eyes, she could see the warm, comforting glow of the crystals shining on the cave walls. Rogue was standing over her with a worried look on his face. She gasped in relief and took huge gulps of air.

"Rogue," she said, shaken. "What was that?"

Gravely, Rogue spoke. "We were being tested. The Force needed to be strong within us so we could overcome our fear and resist the Dark Side."

He helped Raven to her feet. "And we passed."

A few steps later, they entered a huge room. Crystals sparkled on the walls and a long winding platform arose from the middle. At the exact center of the room, there was a radiant rock. Rogue stared in awe.

"Raven!" he whispered in excitement. "This is the place where we finish our lightsabers!"

Raven stared as well, unimpressed. "What? It's just a shiny rock."

Rogue paced around the room, hand on his chin. He stood and stared at one for a moment, then used the Force to pry it loose from the wall. It landed gently in Rogue's hand. Sparkling in brilliant green, the crystal shone with intense light. Raven, meanwhile, was surveying the area for her own crystal. She selected an ocean-blue from a part of the wall nearest her and looked at it in her hand. A ray of light passed over its smooth surface, causing it to flash momentarily.

After both Rogue and Raven had deemed their crystals acceptable, they walked toward the center of the room, meeting at the shiny rock. Rogue reached into his parka and pulled out a small cloth sack. He reached inside and pulled out the hilts and a mysterious shard of crystal as well.

Raven stared at it. "What's that?" she asked.

Rogue smiled. "Remember the Kaiburr crystal back on Mimban? A bit of it just happened to land near me."

Rogue laid his hilt on the shiny stone. He closed his eyes, lifting a hand. The hilt rose into the air slowly and separated into two pieces. The long, thin shard of Kaiburr crystal entered the hilt first, to serve as the focusing crystal. Then, with a striking glare, the green crystal followed the Kaiburr, and the hilt reattached itself with a click. Rogue slowly lowered the new lightsaber to rest on the stone.

Raven had watched the entire process with interest. Then, she followed suit, raising her own hilt and completing it.

Rogue was noticeably excited. He held his saber in front of him, and in an eruption of shining green his blade extended outward. It gave off a steady hum that ignited a spark of wonder in Rogue that he thought he had lost years before. He tried a few swings and thrusts, testing his new weapon's handling. Raven stared at him. She raised her own lightsaber and ignited it, sending a wave of pulsating blue to clash with the vibrant green.

Two new Jedi were suddenly created.

**Footnotes:**

** [1] – In case you didn't already know, the Galactic Senator referred to is Padmé Amidala, who fought a nexu on Geonosis.**

**Please review!  
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	6. Infiltration and Main Characters!

Chapter 6

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard for Rogue and Raven to find their way back to the ship. Frank had placed tracking beacons in the pockets of their coats that led them directly to the ship. Rogue knew that even though Frank was very resourceful, there was only one problem that kept him from being a good stormtrooper: he was _nice_. That made him perfect by the Rebellion's standards.

When Rogue and Raven returned, Frank was finished tinkering with the damage the ship had suffered during the crash landing. Soon, they were blasting off through space.

After all the constant action this story had provided, Rogue felt like they all deserved a rest. After putting the ship on a course back to Metellos, the threesome made themselves comfortable in the lounge. They sat side by side on the couch, staring blankly at the wall.

"So," said Raven, clearly bored. "What now?"

Rogue looked just as unenthused. "I dunno. Maybe we could go somewhere fun."

In his head he pictured the beautiful beaches of Spira. _He was sitting in a hover chair, ordering a stormtrooper to bring him a fresh glass of muja juice with a mini umbrella in it…_

He was snapped out of his fantasy with a realization. He needed to bring the ship out of hyperspace!

He rushed to the cockpit. Upon pulling the lever, the starlines reverted back to stars and Metellos rushed ever closer.

But that wasn't all that was moving closer.

Rogue squinted his eyes and could make out a Nebulon-B escort frigate in space ahead. They were going to crash!

Desperately, he yanked on the steering mechanism. The HWK-290 blasted over the Nebulon-B, but there was an audible screech and a bump. Rogue glanced out the window in horror.

Part of the shield generator was floating in space.

There was a warning beep on the radar, and Rogue saw that the Nebulon-B wasn't the only thing he had to worry about.

. . .

A surprised Wookiee growl caused static over the internal comm system.

"I saw it! I saw it!" shouted Han Solo, agitated by the sudden appearance of the strange starship. "_Redemption_, this is the _Falcon_.We've got company!"

Han wasn't happy about the surprise appearance of company. He was told by the Alliance personnel in charge that he was to escort _Redemption _to Metellos, evacuate some injured operatives, and get out. They had told him they'd triple-checked to make sure that there would be no hostile forces in system when they arrived.

Since when did the higher-ups get anything right?

He switched over the comm channel. "Luke! Get up here!"

Seconds later, Luke Skywalker appeared in the cockpit. "What's the problem?"

"We've got an unidentified ship that just took out _Redemption_'s shield generator. Chewie! See if you can get a lock on them!"

The Wookiee growled an affirmative. Luke and Han stared at the resulting readout on the control panel.

"It looks like an old HWK-290, but there's some strange feed coming off of its transmission. Whoever's flying that scrap has the brains of a dead womp rat, coming out of hyperspace this close to the planet! Turn her around! We're going after 'em!"

The _Millennium Falcon _blasted its sublight engines and turned around in hot pursuit of the new arrival.

. . .

Raven and Frank had joined Rogue in the cockpit, watching his face cycle rapidly through panicked expressions while he wrestled with the controls. Raven looked out the viewport, eyes widening in surprise. "Is that…"

"Yeah. That's it all right. And they're not acting very friendly."

A blast rocked the port side of the ship, causing the occupants so stumble.

"Ah!" Rogue shouted in desperation. He keyed the comm on a channel to the oncoming ship. "Please hold your fire! We're not hostiles!"

"Identify yourselves!" growled an irritated voice from other end.

Rogue was about to give a reply when he was hit over the head with the Blonde Crutch. Raven then pressed the button to reply.

"This is the _Raven Voyager_. We mean no harm. My copilot's flying skills are a bit…rusty, and we don't want any shooting!"

There was chatter on the other end of the comm. Much of it was lost, but the occasional Wookiee growl could be heard.

"Ok, fine. But, Chewie, keep an eye on them."

Another Wookiee growl represented the answer.

. . .

Soon, both ships were docked to the Nebulon-B. Upon stepping out, Rogue looked around in fascination. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the _Redemption_."

Rogue, Raven, and Frank made their way down the long, whitewashed hall. They were soon met by several soldiers in black vests and blast helmets. Our main characters were soon surrounded.

Rogue was excited. "Cool! An escort!"

One of the soldiers snapped. "Quiet! Do you actually think we believe that you're harmless? Look what you dragged in!"

He was pointing at Frank.

_Great. I forgot about him_, thought Rogue. _We make contact with the Alliance, and we just so happen to have a stormtrooper deserter._

They were led at blastpoint down the hall. Rogue had a bad feeling…

His bad feeling turned out to be right. Soon, they had been thrown into a cell. The energy shield activated, effectively trapping them inside. Two Rebel troopers stood outside on guard duty.

But they hadn't done a thorough search on Rogue and Raven.

They still had their lightsabers.

They were about to use them to cut a hole in the wall when more troopers appeared at the entrance to the cell. They deactivated the energy shield. Quickly, Rogue and Raven stowed their lightsabers in their jumpsuits.

The troopers escorted them once more, this time to a briefing room. There were many people seated around a holoprojector, and when the trio entered, every head turned to look at them.

"Hiya!" said Raven cheerfully.

The people looked anything but cheerful. Rogue guessed they must be a command crew for the ship. A man in a tan fleet commander's uniform stood up and gave a stern look at Raven.

"You three have a lot of explaining to do."

Raven wasted no time. "Ok, well, you see, we escaped from an Imperial mining colony on Circarpous V, and Frank" she gestured in his direction "just happened to be on the ship when we escaped with it. And then we went around the galaxy and just so happened to end up here and Rogue" she pointed him out as well "just so happened to get lost in hyperspace and forgot when to exit and almost crashed into this ship. I'm Raven, by the way."

All of this was said at an incredibly rapid speed that rivaled side effects on drug commercials. The commander gave her a sideways glance. "Ok…"

The blast doors at the other end of the room opened. "Hey, what's going on?"

Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca were standing in the doorway. Rogue gaped, astounded. So far in their travels within the Star Wars Universe, Rogue and Raven had not seen anyone that was featured as a main character in a Star Wars movie, book, or video game. This was the most exciting moment ever!

Luke stepped forward. "So what's the news?"

The commander gave Rogue, Raven, and Frank a disapproving glare. "These wackos have come up with some crazy gooberfish story about roaming the galaxy."

Luke looked at them in concentration. "I'm not so sure…"

He walked across the room to stand in front of them. The whole room watched with bated breath as he closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then, he turned around to address the entire room.

"It's ok!" he said. "Ben says they check out."

This didn't satisfy the commander. "Well, that can't be right! I say we lock them back up in the brig!"

This time it was Han that stood up. He gave the commander a hard stare. "Look, pal. I don't like it either, but Luke says they're ok. Cool your engines a bit."

The commander scowled, but he obviously wasn't going to dispute Han Solo. "Well, take them to their quarters, but keep an eye on them."

. . .

The quarters that the crew had assigned the trio to were plain and whitewashed just like the rest of the ship. Frank was sprawled out on a bed, still clad in full armor. Raven was moving a ball up and down in the air with the Force. Rogue was staring blankly at the wall.

_How did I ever end up in this mess? _thought Frank.

_Since we are here, what will the Alliance do with us? _thought Rogue.

_I wonder if they have any string cheese…_thought Raven.

Soon, the door to their quarters opened. The Rebel trooper in the lead addressed the three bored occupants.

"Mon Mothma requests and audience with you. Follow us."

They walked down the hall again. Rogue was getting tired of all the whitewashed walls. It felt too much like a hospital, even though the _Redemption _was the Alliance's primary medical frigate. He was also beginning to get annoyed with the sentence by sentence description of the story every time he or Raven so much as lifted a finger.

All of this was on his mind when they reached the briefing room they had been in before. Several technicians were running around pressing buttons. The commander they had seen before was also there, sitting to the side. He motioned to one of the techs, who promptly moved to the base of the giant holoprjector and pressed several buttons. Rogue assumed that they were using an encrypted frequency to send a transmission. Sure enough, a hologram appeared seconds later. A woman with short auburn hair and a white gown was formed from the blue image. Rogue recognized her as Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebellion.

The techs stopped what they were doing and exited through the doors on the other side of the room. As if on cue, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa entered after them. Rogue was suddenly unsure about the entire affair. Raven was staring at the ceiling, and Frank was wringing his gloved hands together, clearly nervous about the outcome.

Mon Mothma spoke. "It appears that everyone is present. Now we can begin."

She turned to Rogue, Raven, and Frank. "I wish to extend my gratitude to you all. You have brought to our attention the amount of Imperial activity in the Expansion Region."

Her face turned serious. "Now we would greatly appreciate it if you would perform another service for us."

She gestured out of sight, and a hologram of a planet appeared next to her.

"Some of our Bothan spies have discovered that the Empire is planning a massive project on Fondor, but they were not able to tell us what it was. We would like you to go in, assess the situation, and report back to us. Would this be acceptable?"

Rogue nodded dumbly. They were actually going on a mission for the Alliance and going deep into Imperial territory at the same time!

Han walked up and gave each a pat on the shoulder. "Good luck kids. You're gonna need it."

"May the Force be with you," said Luke.

"You'll be given back your ship, outfitted with stealth equipment, and you'll also receive a comlink directly to Alliance Intelligence," said Leia.

"Thank you," said Raven, who had suddenly decided to tune in. "We will do our best."

. . .

An hour later, Rogue, Raven, Frank, and two Alliance Intelligence Officers headed across the hangar bay of a different ship to the _Galactic/Raven Voyager_. They walked past the _Falcon_, where Chewbacca was arguing with Han about a power coupling.

"No, no, no!" he shouted over Chewie's howling. "You attached it completely the opposite way! _This _goes over _there_!"

Chewie gave a frusturated grunt and began fixing it.

Parked right next to the _Falcon_ was the HWK-290. Despite its many dents and scratches, it looked spaceworthy.

"Ah!" said Raven with pleasure. "The good 'ol _Raven Voyager_."

The party of five boarded. As Rogue began to head for the pilot's seat, Frank stopped him. "You know, Rogue, I think I should drive this time."

Rogue gave a sigh, but knew Frank was right. They didn't want to destroy _another_ shield generator. However, he was still puzzled. "Since when are you a pilot, Frank?"

"I could have been a TIE pilot," he said. "I was a whiz at the simulator. But, when it came time for our first real training run, I couldn't see through the helmet visor. I ended up destroying two of my own squadron."

Rogue winced. "That couldn't have gone over too well."

The two Alliance Intelligence agents said nothing.

"Well," said Raven. "Let's get this show on the road."

Frank activated the repulsorlifts, and the ship rose slowly out of the hangar. Soon they were blasting off into space.

"Here we go!" said Frank.

The ship blasted off into hyperspace.

. . .

Fondor seemed to be a desolate place. The usual traffic that surrounded the planet was no longer there. It was a dead hunk of rock and steel hanging in space. The ship containing our heroes drifted slowly toward the hulking mass.

Rogue stared out the window. "I don't like this."

Raven approached the two Alliance Intelligence agents. "Hey, guys," she said. "Do either of you have any string cheese?"

They simply stared at her with unwavering gazes of concentration. Neither moved a muscle.

She shrugged. "Whatever."

Rogue and Frank were looking outward. They could make out were a few _Imperial-_class and several _Victory_-class Star Destroyers clustered around a large orbital shipyard. As soon as Rogue saw what was being constructed, he nearly turned white, but quickly covered it up so the others wouldn't see. He instead focused his attention on the more immediate problem.

The Imperials had closed all traffic in and out of Fondor. Rogue wondered how exactly they were going to get past the blockade. He looked at Frank, who was busy fiddling with several control panels Rogue had never seen before. After pressing several buttons, Frank let out a triumphant "Aha!" and closed the panels. Rogue looked at him quizzically. "What'd you do?"

Frank smiled under his helmet. "You'll see."

They continued approaching the blockade without slowing down. The farther they went, the more Rogue's uneasiness grew. "Uh, Frank? Are you sure about this?"

Frank didn't answer. He simply kept piloting the ship closer and closer. Suddenly, he pressed a few buttons. There was a whooshing sound and everything was suddenly silent. Raven looked around as if something on the inside of the ship would tell her what was different.

"What just happened?" she asked.

Frank laughed. "This ship has a cloaking device!"

Rogue and Raven stared at him.

They continued moving in silence for the next few minutes. They were moving ever closer to one of the Star Destroyers, and with each passing second the tension continued to build. Soon they were passing directly under the Star Destroyer. No one moved an inch. The faces of the Alliance Intelligence agents were plastered and unmoving.

They passed under the Star Destroyer with no incident. Rogue was nervously twiddling his thumbs when they came to the other side. Raven was staring at the wall.

The Imperial blockade was none the wiser.

. . .

The two Alliance agents did something for the first time. With a data card, they plotted a location on the planet into the ship's computer. They landed in the midst of a swirling sandstorm.

Fondor, blown dry by industrialization, was a barren place. The haze produced by smoking towers mixed with the dry sand to create a maelstrom that was swirling in fury. The ship touched down, and Frank deactivated the cloaking device.

"You guys are going to have to move fast," he said. "They're bound to pick up the ship soon."

Raven looked dismayed. "You're not coming?"

"Someone's got to stay with the ship," he said. "Just in case, take this comlink."

He handed Raven a small comlink, similar to the one that they had been given by Leia. Raven deposited it in the pocket of her jumpsuit.

Rogue, Raven, and the two Alliance agents jumped out of the ship as it took off.

As Frank blasted into the atmosphere, the ship melted into the air and became invisible to the naked eye. Rogue turned his head to the horizon that was swirling in dust.

"Let's go!" he shouted to the rest of the party. The foursome headed off in the direction indicated by the agents.

It was tough going. They had to shield themselves with their arms to keep the sand from ripping the skin from their faces. Soon, the agents pointed. Amidst the swirling dust stood a small opening in the side of a building. The group ducked inside, one by one. After they were inside, the agents produced a datapad with several schematics displayed on it.

"Following these should lead you to the computer terminal. Here are the restricted access codes." He handed Rogue a small device.

Rogue and Raven stared in shock. It was the first time either of the agents had spoken. Rogue decided to ignore it however. They were making shocked faces too much for their own good. If they weren't careful…they might stick like that.

The party of four took a few more turns in the dark, musty atmosphere of the underground industrial complex. After crawling in a dark, narrow air duct, they saw some light up ahead. Raven squealed. Rogue jumped, banging his head against the ceiling. He stifled a yelp and nearly crashed into the agents behind him. They did not look pleased.

The source of the light was a control room. Through the vent, the foursome could make out a several Imperial workers dressed in barf-green environment suits and ventilation helmets. Rogue knew that they must be working on something hazardous.

The agents pointed silently, and they continued crawling through the air duct. Soon, they came to another open air vent. Peering outward, they assessed that there were no occupants. Rogue aimed a kick at the vent, but before he could unleash it, one of the agents stopped him. The other agent leaned over to the vent and tossed a small device through it. There was a flash, and Rogue could then see that there were many laser activated alarms criss-crossing the room. Rogue shuddered.

One agent produced a grappling pistol and pointed it at the ceiling as the other carefully removed the air vent cover. There was a pop and a coil of wire shot out from the gun and attached itself to the ceiling. After giving the wire a few tugs to test its strength, the agent swung out of the shaft and moved back and forth in the air before he was able to lower himself to the ground, carefully avoiding the red beams. He placed another small device where he landed and raised himself again. The device let out an electrical pulse and the beams disappeared.

"Wow," said Raven in awe.

Rogue shrugged. "There's a reason why they're Alliance Intelligence."

All four were soon on the ground. Rogue assumed that the alarms would only be deactivated for a limited time. They would have to move fast. They sprinted down a few stark hallways, ducking to avoid the occasional stormtrooper. Soon, they reached the door that the agents wanted. Within moments the Alliance representatives had determined that the door was locked. They stood mutely staring at it. Raven turned to them with her hands on her hips.

"Well?" she asked.

They simply stood frozen, as if they had not anticipated this little obstacle.

Raven, lacking patience, reached to her belt, pulled out her lightsaber, ignited it, and shoved it into the door's control panel. It sparked a moment before the door slid open.

Raven smiled in satisfaction, leading the way in. The room was filled with computers, all beeping and whirring in an insane cacophony. The two agents immediately began pushing buttons, apparently engaged in the task they had come to complete. Rogue shrugged.

"We're going to scout out the rest of this place," he said.

The agents seemed to have one-track minds. Too engrossed in their task, they did not seem to hear.

When they were safely out of earshot, Raven let out a deep breath. "I'm actually kinda glad to lose those guys. They were giving me the creeps."

Rogue looked at her. "I agree that they didn't seem to be the most…personable people I've ever met, but they're better than nobody." His face turned serious. "But I'm uneasy about what those Imps were doing back there."

And so, the two friends headed in that direction. Rogue could sense something amiss…

Soon they reached the spot they had seen from the air vent. What they saw didn't do anything to calm Rogue's uneasiness.

They stood before a hulking mass of metal that contained convulsing energy. It was a reactor core.

Rogue turned the same shade of white that he had when he had seen the orbital shipyards.

"I know what this is now," he said softly.

"WHAT?" screamed Raven over the roar of the reactor core. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

The Imperial workers on the other side of the room took notice of the shouting. One turned around, squeaked in surprise, and fumbled his BlasTech DL-44 pistol out of its holster. He fired.

Rogue and Raven ducked and rolled away to avoid the bolt. It reflected off of the magnetically insulated wall and headed straight for the reactor core.

Suddenly Rogue felt the Force cascade through him. He saw the laser bolt move in slow motion. With the Force speeding up his movements, he seized Raven by the arm and dashed out of the room.

The force of the explosion slammed both into the wall. Wasting no time, Rogue ran down the hall with Raven close behind. Between breaths, he attempted to explain what he had figured out.

"They're building-" he coughed. "-the _Executor_. Darth Vader's-" he inhaled. "-flagship. A _super_-class Star Destroyer, the first-" he exhaled. "-of its kind. But as much as I want to-" he wheezed. "-we can't tell the Alliance. It would mess with galactic history."

"So their big secret was a big ship, huh?" said Raven, keeping a perfect pace and in no way tired. "I'm a bit disappointed. I was expecting something more…evil."

"Well," said Rogue. "Right now it doesn't matter, because they're bound to find us any minute."

. . .

An Imperial officer sat staring at the image that had appeared on his security monitor. Two figures in black jumpsuits, one a boy with curly brown hair and the other a wild-looking girl with a mess of blonde, were running down the hall.

He smiled. "Captain, we have located the intruders."

A stormtrooper with an orange shoulder pad signifying him as a captain walked forward for a look at the monitor. "I'll send my squad to take them out," he said.

"No."

Both turned. Behind them was a hooded man with crimson robes. His face was invisible under the hood, and his voice oozed with the stench of fear.

"I will deal with them myself."

. . .

Still dashing like mad in no particular direction whatsoever, Rogue and Raven ran down another hallway. They turned the corner…

…And almost crashed into a squad of stormtroopers.

Everyone was caught completely off guard, but Jedi reflexes allowed Rogue and Raven to recover quicker. Their lightsabers blazed to life seconds before the troopers started firing at them. Rogue backed up on the defensive, deflecting shots. Raven simply charged, cutting down stormtroopers in a massive frenzy. She moved at such an incredible speed that her lightsaber and hair seemed to be one, forming a strange, glowing spectacle that cut down every stormtrooper it touched.

Seconds later there was only a pile of bodies.

The mad dash continued.

"If we can retrace our steps, maybe we can get out of here!" shouted Rogue.

Raven nodded. They ran in the direction of the room through which they had originally entered. Just as they were about to turn the corner…

…Rogue wondered why they had to meet enemies around corners. He turned the corner anyway, and saw a crimson-robed figure.

"I've been waiting for you," it said.

Raven didn't try to hide her disgust. "What _is _that?" she asked.

"A Force Adept," Rogue replied gloomily. "One of Palpatine's errand boys."

"Why you-" the Force Adept snarled, charging and igniting a red-bladed lightsaber at the same time.

Rogue and Raven parried with their own lightsabers. The blades of energy crackled as they clashed against each other. Raven pushed forward, forcing her opponent to move a few steps back. He took an enraged swing at Raven's head. She ducked and rolled, allowing Rogue to strike. The sabers connected rapidly, and for a few seconds there was a stalemate as the sabers refused to budge.

The Force Adept let out a slow, toad-like laugh. He began to laugh so hard that his head rolled back and his body convulsed, only to fall limply to the ground as Raven's blue blade was thrust into his stomach. The carcass fell to the floor. Rogue and Raven stood staring at it for a few seconds. Raven used the Force to call the defeated Adept's lightsaber to her hand.

The floor began to shake violently and chunks of stone fell through the ceiling. There was no doubt in Rogue's mind that the explosion that they had caused had engendered the destruction of the facility. Another tremor threw them into the wall. A few straggling stormtroopers that had appeared found enough footing to take multiple shots. Rogue raised his head, fighting off pain.

Before him was a dark, pulsating vortex. It swirled with dark energy. For a second Rogue was lost in its mesmerizing interior. Then he heard something over the blaster fire and earthquakes.

"Rogue!"

Raven was being sucked into the black vortex. She desperately reached for Rogue. He crawled forward and grabbed her hand, but it wasn't enough. He felt the gravitation of the vortex tugging at him was well.

Raven's feet disappeared inside the pulsating mass. The gravitation was becoming stronger…

Raven passed through the vortex, and pulled Rogue through with her. As he was passing through, he felt a strange sensation, as if he was passing a barrier between air and water. Then, everything went white, and he lost all sense of consciousness.


	7. The Strangest Day

Chapter 7

Rogue awoke.

He had an intense pain in his head. He tried to move, but was forced into submission by the pain. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He pulled at his hair, which felt strangely different, but he thought it could just be a product of a hallucination. He felt like he was dying. He couldn't see anything but white. Finally, he gave in and blacked out.

. . .

In the darkening twilight, a lone girl walked in the forest. She had long, brown hair that trailed in wisps behind her. She was dressed in a blue and white uniform with a gray apron over it. It had been a long day for her, with school and work, but nothing in the world could douse her good cheer. She was looking forward to going home and making a nice dinner, hoping that it would please everyone.

Thinking happy thoughts with a smile on her face, she happened to see two figures dressed in black lying on the path.

"Hello?" she called.

Neither figure stirred. She saw that one was a brown-haired boy and the other was a blonde-haired girl. She ran toward them, kneeling down to look at them.

"Are you ok? Can you talk at all?"

She put her hands to her head in distress and began talking to herself rapidly.

"Ah! What am I going to do? I have to do something!"

Suddenly, she stopped, her facing turning to one of stony determination. She turned and ran to get help.

. . .

The second time Rogue regained consciousness was just as painful as the first. He opened his eyes slowly.

He was in a room. It was conveniently dark, for which he was very thankful, considering that the bright light would have worsened the pain. He could feel that he was on a soft piece of furniture. A bed.

As his eyes adjusted to the light, he could also make out a window draped with silk, emitting a faint outside light. Rogue turned his head in the other direction, ignoring the pain in his head. He could make out Raven lying next to him. He was about to be quite worried until he noticed her chest rising and falling. She was breathing, at least.

It was then that he heard footsteps from out in the hallway. He was then instantly alert. He had no idea where they were. They had been sucked into the vortex back on Fondor, but they were in a house. Something that he was _sure_ couldn't be in the Star Wars Universe…so they must be in a new Universe. But if the people or things in this Universe weren't friendly…

He reached out with the Force, trying to locate his lightsaber. It was lying on a nightstand on the other side of the room. It wiggled a little, about to leap to Rogue-

-But Rouge's concentration was broken when a person entered the room.

It was a girl.

She had brown hair that flew behind her like a curtain, wide eyes, and a surprised look on her face as she saw Rogue. She walked forward, carrying a tray of tea, and set it down on the table as she stood over Rogue.

"Oh! You're awake! I was so worried! After found you unconscious we brought you here so you could rest. I hope the room is comfortable enough. I made the beds especially!" Her face broke into a smile. "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Tohru!"

It was almost too much for Rogue to take in at one time. He looked more closely at Tohru. Something was different about her…

He tried to sit up, but the pain was too much. Tohru reacted suddenly.

"Oh! You must be in a lot of pain! I'll be right back with some herbs to help!"

She dashed out of the room.

Rogue dropped his head to the pillow and tried to process the massive amount of sensory information that had just been shoved into his weary brain. It could have been the pain, but Rogue thought that something about him felt immensely different. On the table across the room, he saw a hand mirror. He had to concentrate hard to call it to his hand. As he flipped it open, his breath caught in his throat.

He didn't look like himself anymore. His hair was still brown, but it had a different glow to it, as if it was a reflective piece of glass. His ears had become smaller and less defined. His nose was smaller and ended in a point, and his eyebrows had ceased to be voluminous and had instead become longer and thinner. But the greatest change was to his eyes. They had become triangle like in shape and his pupils and irises were three times their normal size.

Rogue had become animated.

It was then that he realized it. They had landed in an anime. That explained the girl's features. However, Rogue was still clueless about the workings of it.

Beside him, Raven began to stir. The wet washcloth that had been resting on her forehead slid off to rest on her arm. She, too, had become animated. Her hair rested in neat strands across her face. Her cheeks had a soft, penciled blush. Her eyes, unlike Rogue's, had become huge, watery ovals.

"Rogue?" she said weakly. "What happened?"

He strained to think. "We were running from stormtroopers…and we were sucked into that strange dark matter. I think…it must have been some sort of portal, because we're definitely not in the Star Wars Universe anymore."

"How can you tell?"

He handed her the mirror.

If anime physics allowed it, Raven's eyes grew even larger in surprise. She put the mirror down. "Yeah, that would explain it." She put a hand to her forehead. "Uggh, I feel terrible."

Rogue wasn't feeling much better himself. He was seeing in triple.

"Still…" said Raven. "There's something about this place that I recognize…"

It was then that Tohru burst back into the room.

"You're both awake! I brought some herbal tea that should help with the pain, but you should still be resting. I hope you're still comfortable."

Raven sat up in her bed, motionless.

"Is something wrong?" Tohru asked nervously.

Raven's eyes turned to stars and chimes tinkled in the background as it turned rainbow colored. She leapt off the bed in a flash of color and started babbling at Tohru.

"Oh my gosh it's really you! I thought this could never happen! This is so awesome! Does this mean that we're where I think we are?"

Tohru backed up slowly, laughing nervously. "I'm sorry," said "I'm not quite following you."

"There was a shout from down the hall. "Tohru? How are our guests?"

"Oh! Shigure!" Tohru replied. "They're awake!"

A black-haired man dressed in a green robe appeared at the door. "How are they doing?"

"There was another voice. "Did you say they were awake?"

A silver-haired boy was next to enter.

"HEY!" came yet another voice. "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

A third, orange-haired boy pushed past the heads of the other two for a look inside.

"That," said Rogue, "is a question _I _would like to have answered."

There was a silence as everyone turned to stare at Rogue. It was Tohru who broke the silence.

"We should make proper introductions," she said with a smile.

The black-haired man squeezed himself through the doorway. "Well, I'm Shigure," he said. "And this is Yuki." He gestured to the silver-haired boy. "And Kyo." He acknowledged the orange-head, who had moved so only half of him could be seen through the doorway. "He can be kind of sulky sometimes."

Kyo's head grew in size as it turned the corner and screamed "SHUT UP!"

"Pleased to meet you both," said Yuki in a very polite manner.

"Well," said Rogue. "I'm Rogue, and this is-"

"Raven!" she cut in, hopping up and down on the bed excitedly. "I can't believe you're all here! This is the best moment of my ENTIRE LIFE!"

The group at the doorway made noises of surprise. Raven pulled Rogue by the ear so she could whisper in it.

"Rogue, these are the characters from one of my favorite mangas! We're in the Fruits Basket Universe!"

"That's good…I guess," he replied, still very confused.

But everything was about to get even more confusing.

Raven, as if she was in no pain at all, jumped up from the bed with her arms spread wide. Time suddenly slowed to a crawl. There was a close-up shot or Raven moving in slow motion shouting "Kyyyyooooo!" and another of Kyo trying to dash through the doorway.

But he was too late to avoid Raven. She latched onto him with a huge hug. Suddenly there was a pop and a huge explosion of purple smoke. When it cleared, Raven stood holding a ginger cat where Kyo had been seconds before. Shigure and Yuki were standing with faces that were a mixture of surprise and nervousness.

There was an awkward silence once again. This time, it was Rogue's turn to break it.

"Did he just turn into a cat?"

Shigure sighed.

"Shigure-" Yuki began.

Shigure held up a hand. "No, it'll be fine. Hatori can erase their memories if Akito deems it necessary."

Rogue shuddered. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Our family, the Sohmas," Shigure began, "is cursed. Some of its members, born under the Chinese Zodiac, transform into its signs if hugged by a member of the opposite gender or if their bodies are placed under too much stress."

He cleared his throat. "And, as you can see, Kyo is the cat of the Chinese Zodiac."

Raven held him outward in her hands as he clawed at the air.

What the hell was that for?" he shouted.

"Perhaps if you had called less attention to yourself with that annoying screaming you wouldn't be in this situation," said Yuki.

"No one asked you, you damn rat!" shouted Kyo, still clawing at air. Raven put him down. Yuki and Kyo continued to stare daggers at each other.

"How about some breakfast?" Tohru asked cheerfully.

. . .

Soon, the six of them were kneeling around the breakfast table. There was still an overhanging air of silence. Shigure broke it.

"Isn't it lovely having Tohru around the house? Why, I don't know what I would do without this excellent cooking. What's for breakfast this morning?"

"Oh, it's leek stew," Tohru replied, carrying a large steaming pot and setting it on the table.

Dark clouds suddenly formed over Kyo's bowed head.

Tohru suddenly looked very nervous. "Oh! I'm sorry, Kyo! I forgot you hate leeks! I'll make you something else if you want!"

Kyo looked like he was about to make a rude comment about it, but decided not to. "No, I'll eat it," he said.

Rogue dipped his spoon into his own bowl of stew and took a bite. He felt the warmth flow through his entire body and his strength replenished. It really was delicious.

_Tohru must be an excellent cook_, he thought.

On the other side of the table Raven was working on her stew. However, her bites were becoming slower and slower. Eventually she stopped eating altogether, and Rogue noticed her face turn slightly green.

Either Raven shared Kyo's dislike of leeks, or she had not fully recovered from their trip through the portal.

"Raven?" he said uncertainly.

She turned to Tohru…and barfed all over her lap.

Tohru's face was surprised, but it soon broke into a genuine smile. "It's ok! I'll clean it up! Do you want something else?"

"Aw c'mon!" shouted Kyo. Can't you just get a _little_ angry for once?"

Raven turned to look at him and promptly barfed all over his shirt.

"What did you do that for? Get a barf bucket or something!"

He got up from his place and stormed upstairs, muttering curses the whole way.

Shigure sipped the last bit of his stew.

"Excellent, Tohru," he said.

"Yes, I agree," said Yuki.

"It _was_ really good," said Rogue.

Raven, from a kneeling position on the floor, gave a thumbs up.

. . .

Eating breakfast in a strange place without his equipment set Rogue on edge. After he had cleaned up his bowl, he walked directly upstairs to retrieve his lightsaber, the comlinks (which he didn't bother trying to use, as he doubted the signal traveled between dimensions), and the holoprojector. He was relieved to see that everything was still where he had seen it last.

Strangely enough, Raven's lightsabers were nowhere to be seen. It didn't bother Rogue too much though. Raven knew this Universe better than he did.

As he turned to leave the room, he felt a strange sensation. It was exactly the same sensation he had felt in the space above Circarpous V.

_Rogue_, said the voice. _You must retrieve the data from the computer._

"Computer?" Rogue said aloud. "I don't remember seeing a computer."

_Ask Shigure_, said the voice.

Rogue was still puzzled about the nature of the voice, but it _had _led he and Raven to Ilum to gain lightsabers, so he decided to trust it again. He felt the Force flow through him to guide his path.

He found Shigure in a study filled with books. He was sitting with a pen in his mouth, typing away…at a computer.

_Aha! _thought Rogue.

Shigure looked up. "Ah, Rogue. What brings you here?"

Rogue hesitated a moment. "Can I look at your computer?"

"By all means," Shigure replied. "May I ask what for?"

Rogue thought fast. "I need to check my email," he said.

"Go ahead," replied Shigure. "Just don't open up the documents folder."

He left the room humming a tune that Rogue didn't recognize. He shrugged and sat down at the computer.

He stared at it, not exactly knowing what to do. Then, as if on cue, a ping sounded and there was a new message on the screen:

0602: I've been waiting for you, Rogue.

_Creepy_, he thought. His fingers typed a reply.

Doggiebiscuit101: What are you?

Rogue chuckled in amusement. What kind of screen name was that?

0602: I am your Almanac for this Universe. I have uploaded myself into the chat function of this computer. Press the eject button on the front of the secondary drive on the CPU. That is all.

The chat window closed itself. Rogue raised an eyebrow, but pressed the eject button anyway. A device popped out.

"A floppy disc?" he said aloud. "You're a mysterious, knowledge-giving device, and you come on a floppy disc?"

He shook his head as he pocketed it. Shigure walked back into the room. "Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.

"Sure did," replied Rogue.

Shigure started to talk slightly faster. "You didn't open up the documents folder, did you?"

Rogue gave him a look. "…No. Why?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. By the way, Yuki has mysteriously vanished. Now where could he have gone?"

Rogue's earlier observations began to trouble him. He stretched out with the Force, trying to pinpoint everyone's location. Tohru was outside doing laundry. Kyo was on the roof. But Rogue could not sense Yuki's nor Raven's presences anywhere in the entire house.

They were gone.

. . .

Soon, the remaining four people in the house were gathered around the same table they had sat in front of for breakfast.

"If I know my friend Raven," began Rogue, "She won't be far behind Yuki. She can be very crazy sometimes, so it's also possible that she kidnapped him. However, since there hasn't been much time since they left, we should start with looking at places where Yuki might visit."

"Why do we have to go look for that damn rat?" asked Kyo, who was staring at the floor.

Suddenly, Tohru was right in front of him. The background turned to a soft pink mist and her eyes began to water. "Please?"

There was no way that even Kyo could resist. "Fine!" he said.

"They could be at the school," Shigure suggested. "So I'll go there."

Before anyone could stop him, he stood up from the table and dashed out the door with glee. Rogue could have sworn he heard him singing something that sounded like "high school girls," but he couldn't be sure.

That left Kyo, Tohru, and Rogue at the table.

"They could have gone to Ayame's shop," said Tohru.

"I volunteer myself for that search," said Rogue. _Tohru is the only sane character in this universe so far, _he thought.

"That leaves Kyo with the most important search of all," Rogue finished. "If there's one place I know Raven would go…"

His voice turned deep and foreboding and the background changed to one of blazing fire. Cheesy organ music could be heard in the background. "The shopping mall."

"Why is that my job?" protested Kyo.

"Because I think that she'd be drawn to your presence," said Rogue. "She has…a sixth sense of a sort."

Of course, he couldn't tell them that it was really the Force. But Rogue really did have a sixth sense, and even without the help of the Force, he had a feeling…

. . .

No one expected to hear back from Shigure, so the trio set off in the direction of the city.

Rogue had no idea who Ayame was. Tohru knew a lot more than he did. If only Raven were there…but she had decided to pull a kidnapping and leave him stranded with a bunch of weird strangers. Typical of her.

Kyo walked in silence, staring at the ground. Tohru was trying to engender conversation with Rogue.

"So where do you come from?"

Rogue was pretty good at cover stories…when he knew some background. Unfortunately, in this Universe, he couldn't spin a tale of hyperspace trailblazers from the Corporate Sector. "Um, we come from a faraway city called…um, Tatooine."

"What brought you here?"

Rogue continued to make stuff up. "Our families moved to a city on the other side of this one, and we decided to finish the last of the school year over there before moving with them. So after that we set off, and Raven, expert tracker, misidentified some berries, and we got sick."

He thought it was a pretty believable story, if he did say so himself.

"But we must be cursed, too," he continued, "because we always seem to end up in strange situations."

Much to Rogue's surprise, Tohru bought the entire thing, cheerfully even. Kyo said nothing.

They reached a street corner. Kyo crossed the street without a backward glance. Tohru and Rogue continued down the street.

"So what is this place?" Rogue asked.

"Ayame is Yuki's older brother," said Tohru. "He has a clothes shop. It's really nice. You'll love it!"

Something in his head told Rogue otherwise.

Soon they were standing in front of a small shop, covered by a vibrant rainbow shade, and overshadowed by the many tall buildings towering on either side of it. Rogue cautiously opened the door. There was a loud ping and a bell chime to announce their arrival. The inside was dark and shadowed.

"The sign _did _say open…" said Tohru nervously.

Suddenly the lights blazed to life. Instinctively, Rogue's hand went to the clip on his jumpsuit where his lightsaber was. But he sensed no hostility, only eccentricity.

_Oh no_, he thought.

Within seconds, a tall man with long silver hair and a red coat stood in front of them.

"Hello, hello! Tohru, how nice to see you! And a new face! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Have you come to examine my fine and exquisite new order of dresses? Or have you come to simply be in my fabulous presence? Were you drawn here by the compelling power of my aura? Was it that-"

"HEY!" snapped Rogue. "Remember! Annoying repetition is MY gag!" He raised his head to scream at the ceiling. "And don't anyone forget it!"

"Ayame," said Tohru to the man. "This is Rogue."

"My pleasure!" said Ayame with a wide smile. "This is my humble shop, filled with brilliant extravagance and beauty. What reason could you possibly have for coming here besides chatting with me or buying some luxurious clothes?"

"We're actually looking for Yuki," said Rogue.

"Oh, dear Yuki has gone missing? This is ever so tragic! Whatever could have happened to him?"

Rogue was beginning to lose his patience. "I guess that means he's not here," he said hastily. "We need to continue to look, so we should be on our way…"

As soon as Rogue's hand touched the doorknob, his wrist was seized by another. He was yanked around to face another person.

She wore a maid's outfit and had a pair of huge eyes (large even by anime standards) behind an equally huge pair of glasses. She moved closer to Rogue, the tip of her nose almost touching his, squinting her ever large eyes as if to scrutinize him. She produced a tape measure and made several lightning-fast measurements.

"This is my assistant, Mine," said Ayame.

Mine backed away from Rogue and clapped her hands. "Oh, you simply must try on one of our new suits!"

She seized Rogue by the wrist again and yanked him to the back of the shop. Rifling through a rack of extravagant clothes, she made a selection and handed it to Rogue. Eyes aglow, she shepherded him into an even darker room, shutting the door. There was an audible click, and Rogue realized he had been locked in.

"Go ahead!" shouted Mine excitedly. "I won't let you out until you try it on!"

Rogue was far from happy being forced to try on what he considered to be somewhat of a monkey suit, but he decided that it would be best to stay on the good side of these insane people.

But he would do it _his _way.

He looked at the suit. It appeared to be an enhanced pinstriped tuxedo of sorts, with patterned buttons and an overly large pink flower protruding from the lapel pocket. Rogue had grown quite fond of his black jumpsuit, so he decided to wear the tux over it. After dressing, he looked at himself in the mirror. Despite the circumstances, he thought he looked pretty sharp.

But it was time that he left the confinement of the darkened dressing room. He took out his lightsaber, ignited it, and proceeded to plunge it into the door, cutting a sizzling hole in the metal. After stepping through the hole, he looked upon an open-mouthed Mine staring at him. He closed down the lightsaber, and the green blade vanished.

Ayame appeared in a flash next to Mine.

"Ooh! Marvelous! A fashion miracle, if I do say so myself!"

Mine had recovered. "Yes, but perhaps the rose should be a deeper red rather than a pink, and the pinstripes should be changed to a more gritty charcoal color."

Rogue raised his hands in desperation. "I'd love to stay, chat, and be the guinea pig for countless clothing experiments, but we really must be going. Yuki is still missing!"

"Oh, if you insist…" said Ayame with dismay.

Rogue walked hastily out of the store, shedding pieces of the tuxedo as he went. Ayame and Tohru rushed after him. He thrust the door open and began to walk briskly down the street. Tohru and Ayame exchanged waves and goodbyes as the distance between them grew.

Rogue knew that he had been right. They were ALL crazy.

. . .

Kyo walked, staring at the ground with his hands in his pockets. Why was it that _he _got stuck searching alone? And for that damn rat no less.

Kyo looked up. He was standing in front of the mall, in all its vast, crowded glory. There was a hiss, and the automatic doors slid away from each other, releasing a flow of ice-cold air that blew Kyo's hair back. He didn't move until the doors had fully opened.

The inside of the mall was bustling with people, all following their own agenda and paying no attention to anyone of anything else. They all seemed faceless to Kyo. Not one of them could possibly understand his predicament; not one of them could understand what he had to go through. Scowling, he walked a few steps inward, scanning the crowds for any sign of the crazy blonde who had kidnapped the rat.

In his peripheral vision, Kyo could see an eggroll stand stuffed full of neatly arranged free samples. There was a figure standing in front of it that seemed to stand out from the rest of the crowds. She moved…and Kyo realized who it was. There was no mistaking the heap of blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been cut in an entire lifetime.

"HEY!" shouted Kyo.

Many in the crowds turned to stare at him, murmuring softly. The figure's head twitched, and suddenly she snatched several eggrolls and dashed down the walk away from Kyo. He took off after her, violently shoving aside several bystanders. There were shouts of "watch it!" as Kyo focused all of his energy on keeping the blonde in his vision. She was fast. Very fast. It took all of Kyo's training just to keep pace. He entered the plaza in pursuit. The blonde began to climb the escalator, taking the steps three at a time, zigzagging in between the innocent bystanders. Kyo dashed after her, knocking down the bystanders instead. When he reached the top of the escalator, she was nowhere to be seen. Kyo looked around for a few seconds, his head whirling, and finally saw a flash of blonde entering the movie theater. He dashed after it.

It was dark in the movie theater. The shadows played across Kyo's face, making it appear vastly more sinister. He paused for a second to look at the screen. It was some kind of romance movie. He scoffed. A lady with a particularly large handbag leaned over to him, put a finger to her lips, and hissed "shh!"

Kyo paid her no heed. His eyes shifted upward…and he saw what he was looking for. Even with a black jumpsuit, she couldn't hide that hair.

He sprung from his nonchalant lean on that wall with feline reflex. On his way down the aisle, he knocked over several buckets of popcorn, spilled several drinks, and made people very angry. She took off in the direction of the exit. Kyo swore, coinciding perfectly with the movie's dialect as the woman on screen started asking suspicious questions. He brushed popcorn off of his shirt, heading for the exit in pursuit, when two people appeared in his path. "That's him! Get him!"

He whirled around. The lady with the large handbag was pointing at Kyo. The light from the screen changed, and the figures in front of him were revealed to be mall security. Without thinking, he barreled through them.

"Hey!" one shouted, and they rushed to give chase.

Kyo exited the theater, security hot in pursuit. He could see the blonde far up ahead. She seemed to be gliding rather than running, as if this entire mischievous affair was effortless. Kyo ran with all his might, knocking over a woman carrying several bags on top of each other, causing a massive pileup. The security guards in pursuit of him tripped over the bags, causing them to tumble to the smooth tile floor. Kyo chanced a quick glance backward before heading off in the direction the blonde had taken.

Soon, he came to the food court. The maze of tables did not stop the blonde. She gracefully weaved in between them, causing a few people to look up from their meals in puzzlement. Kyo took a flying leap over a group of tables, but could not stop his momentum in time to avoid knocking over the next one in his path. Unfortunately, the family sitting at the table had purchased a family size order of Lo Mein noodles. Neatly folded carry-out boxes somersaulted in the air before spilling their contents all over the family, who became very cross. Kyo ignored them, too. He was still far behind his quarry.

Fortunately for him, the blonde had led him to the main part of the mall. It was a straight shot down the walk to the end, which was a large department store. By then, Kyo had gotten better at weaving through crowds. He kept the blonde in his line of sight. The chase was getting very tiring for Kyo, and the longer he pursued, the angrier he got. The blonde rushed into the department store. Kyo entered mere yards behind, as the distance between them narrowed. When he was a few feet away from her, he reached out to grab her.

To his surprise, she jumped over the glass barrier and landed on the ground floor. Kyo was not as prepared to pull such a crazy stunt, so he headed for the escalator instead. Reaching the bottom, he was just in time to see the blonde race into the women's dressing room. About to run in after her, he was stopped by a voice…that came from inside his own head.

_Patience, Kyo, _it said. _She went in there to hide, not to run._

It was not a voice Kyo recognized, but he stopped to think anyway. If she had gone in to hide, then…

Kyo approached the dressing rooms slowly. He heard a muffled sound from within. He pressed his ear to the wall.

"Miss Raven, please."

It was Yuki.

"Dammit!" Kyo swore.

He barged into the room to find the blonde standing over Yuki, brandishing what looked like a crutch.

"Finally!" Kyo said loudly. "I've got you cornered now! What did you do to the rat?"

Raven smiled at him cheerfully. "Oh, I just wanted to liven him up a bit. He seems so uptight sometimes!"

Kyo was now able to get a better look at Yuki. What he saw caused his head to grow and shout at Raven. "So you dressed him up in _THAT_?"

It was a purple garment that looked like it had been covered in spray paint, tossed in a blender, and sewn up to look like a combination of a dress and a tuxedo.

Raven gave Kyo an innocent stare. "What's wrong with it?"

"EVERYTHING!"

"Oh, I see." She sniffed.

Kyo looked again at Yuki, but was forced to look away. "Put some different clothes on!"

He turned to Raven. "And _you_," he grabbed her by the arm, "are coming back with us."

. . .

It was already darkening by the time everyone made it back to the house. It was dusk, and the sky had darkened to a faintly purplish hue.

"Well," said Rogue with finality. "That was an adventure. I'm sure that this has been a learning experience."

He received glares from Yuki and Kyo.

Instantly, Tohru perked up. "Oh, yes! I forgot to mention! Some of the other Sohmas are coming to dinner!"

_Oh, great, _thought Rogue. _There are _more_ of them?_

Raven squealed with glee.

Rogue was distracted, however. He could hear something. It was a very faint noise, and he doubted he could have picked it up without Force enhanced hearing, and it seemed to be growing louder. Rogue craned his neck to listen better.

It sounded…like something running at the speed of light. And it _was _getting louder.

In the kitchen, Tohru looked up from the stove and made a sound of interest. In the dining room, Kyo's eyes became the size of dinner plates and he dashed upstairs in a flash of orange. Rogue sensed a great disturbance in the Force…

The noise rose in volume rapidly. Rogue noticed his mug of tea begin to shake. Ripples vibrated inside of it, and the dish it sat on made the tinkling sound of clattering china. Suddenly the house itself began to shake. Dishes teetered dangerously in the hutch, and pictures hanging from the walls danced on strings. Rogue fought an urge to freak out, but Raven kneeled at the table, giddy, as if she were preparing to open the best birthday present ever. Shigure acted as if nothing was amiss, and remained in the same position, sipping his tea.

In an instant, there was a tremendous crash, and the door to the house burst to smithereens. Standing in its place was a young woman, with brown hair and a green shirt.

"KYYYYOOOO! I KNOW YOU'RE UP THERE!" she screamed. She dashed to the stairs.

"Meet Kagura," said Shigure dryly.

There was a cacophony of destruction upstairs. Glass broke, large objects thumped against the floor, and screaming was followed by angry yells of protest. After a few minutes, the two returned downstairs. Kagura looked much calmer than she had before. Kyo, on the other hand, was steaming like a vegetable.

Shigure took another sip of his tea. "Kagura, do fix the door, although I don't know what good it will do." He stared wistfully at the outside where the door should have been. "This must be the seven hundredth time…"

Kagura hung her head a bit. "I'm sorry, Shigure."

"YOU SHOULD BE!" Kyo screamed at her.

"It's quite all right," said Shigure. "After all, I'm used to it by now…"

Amidst the wreckage of the front door, A small head appeared, topped by a head of blonde hair. "Hiya! I hope I'm not too late for dinner!"

"Oh," said Shigure. "Momiji. It's fine, we haven't even started yet."

Soon a whole body appeared. It was a boy. His eyes grew wide as he saw Rogue and Raven at the table. "Oh! Who are you two?"

Raven waved a hand at Rogue, as if to dismiss his importance. "That's Rogue-"

Her eyes turned to stars. "And I'm Raven!"

Twinkling chimes were heard in the background.

"It's very nice to meet you!" said Momiji, giving Raven a big squeezing hug.

There was purple smoke, and then a rabbit.

Kyo started screaming something, though no one could make sense of it. Yuki shook his head. The rabbit wasted no time in dashing to the kitchen.

"I see you continue to have no shortage of housework, Shigure."

It was a new voice. Everyone turned. The voice came from a tall, white-shirted man that cast a very dark shadow on the floor. One of his eyes was covered by his black hair, making his face seem almost eerie.

"Hatori! I had no idea you were coming, too!" exclaimed Shigure. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"Don't babble, Shigure," he said darkly, taking his place at the table.

Another person appeared in the doorway. "I hope we're not too late," the figure said.

Tohru looked out from the kitchen. "Hatsuharu!"

He nodded. "Present and looking forward to an excellent meal."

From behind him peeked a girl with deep gold-brown eyes and hair the color of a tiger's fur.

Tohru's eyes widened in surprise. "Kisa?"

Something in her face showed a hidden joy.

Both entered the house. Hatsuharu looked at the door. "Do I want to know what happened to the door?"

Shigure simply sighed.

Mere seconds after everyone had taken a seat, there was a scream coming from outside. Rogue flinched, almost sending his chopsticks hurtling across the room, but no one else appeared fazed. Then a gasping figure in a robe with a crazy look in its eyes stared at the gathering.

"I'M SORRY!" it screamed at the top of its lungs. "I'M NOT WORTHY TO BE IN THIS HOUSE! I DESTROYED THE BRICK WALL NEXT TO THE HOUSE!"

"Calm down, Ritsu," said Shigure, still sipping his tea. "Sit down."

Shaking with unstable energy, Ritsu took a seat. Rogue leaned over to Raven.

"I can't tell," he whispered. "Is that a man…or a woman?"

"A man," confirmed Raven.

"Then why-"

She held up a hand. "It would probably be better if you didn't ask."

Soon, there came a delicious smell from the kitchen. It tickled Rogue's nose, like it was teasing him, daring him to follow it.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to. The smell came from the pot of steaming dumplings that Tohru carried from the kitchen in her two mitt-covered hands. Rogue felt a sensation similar to when he thought of nerf steak. There was a soft clunk as they were set on the table. Tohru took the remaining spot between Momiji (who had become human again) and Kisa.

For a minute everyone simply stared, waiting for someone to work up the nerve to be the first to serve themselves. Finally, Shigure wielded his chopsticks and selected a particularly plump dumpling from the pot. "Why let the food get cold?"

Soon everyone had a few dumplings and was hungrily eating. There was much talk about Rogue and Raven. Rogue had filled Raven in on his cover story earlier. She had given him a sideways "are you kidding me" look but had gone along with it anyway.

Several conversations were happening at the same time. Tohru was talking to Momiji and Kisa. Ritsu was fumbling uneasily with his chopsticks. He accidentally flipped a half of a dumpling across the room, hitting Yuki's shirt. Ritsu stifled a loud "I'm sorry!" Shigure was joking about something to Hatori, who sat stone-faced. Kagura was trying to feed Kyo a dumpling, which he was not pleased about. Haru was looking at Yuki.

Yuki had a dazed look in his eyes, like part of him was somewhere other than the dinner table. Haru was puzzled. He did not avert his eyes as he placed a dumpling into his mouth and chewed slowly.

He didn't have to wonder long. Raven suddenly stood up, offering Yuki a hand. Both now stood facing the table. They took a synchronized step up onto the table. Everyone had either stopped eating or was lazily chewing, contemplating the pose. Raven and Yuki were now standing on the table. Rogue reached into his jumpsuit and produced a pair of ear plugs, which he inserted into his ears. Raven opened her mouth wide, and began to sing.

"Do you like waffles?"

"Yes we like waffles!"

"Do you like pancakes?"

"Yes we like pancakes!"

"Do you like French toast?"

"Yes we like French toast!"

"Can't wait to get a mouthful!"

"Yeah!"

The others at the table stood dumbstruck. Raven was sure they had never, ever heard Yuki sing before, much less dance. Rogue removed his earplugs. As much as he had been surprised by all of the oddities of the Sohma family, they were for once surprised by the oddities of his friend Raven. He smiled smugly.

"Yuki," said Hatori. "Perhaps I should schedule a check-up on your mental health."

. . .

The rest of dinner went by with as much normalcy as could be expected, and when everyone had left, the occupants of the house went to sleep.

The next day was Monday, and Tohru was insistent on bringing Rogue and Raven to school with herself, Yuki, and Kyo.

There was protest from Yuki and Kyo, but they could not refuse Tohru easily. The matter was settled. Rogue and Raven woke up to find uniforms at the foot of their beds.

Raven was ecstatic. She wasted no time getting ready. Within moments, she was dressed in a blue and white outfit with a skirt and flap at the back, looking very much the part of a girl going to school. Rogue had barely shaken off the last few tendrils of sleep that were threatening to pull him under before Raven was prepared to leave. He had grown quite fond of his jumpsuit, and he hated to see it go, but in order to blend in, he would have to wear the uniform. With a sigh, he rolled out of bed and took three times as long to get ready as Raven had. When he was finished, his white tie was still crooked and much of his hair was sticking up in random directions. He had huge bags under his eyes.

Within moments, Raven and Tohru were chatting away along the dirt path that led to the city, and Rogue walked with a slump between Yuki and Kyo, who were feeling the same lack of energy that Rogue was and were not speaking. This continued until they reached the school building. They walked to the second floor, where homeroom was. Rogue gave bewildered looks at all the signs, which were in Japanese. He scratched his head.

Halfway down the hall, the party of five was approached by two girls. Both looked immensely different. The girl on the right was a tall blonde with hair covering the left side of her face and a pose that seemed to scream "American." To her left was a girl that wore her hair in a braid down her shoulder that was significantly shorter, but possessed a demeanor of cosmic understanding.

"Hey, Tohru!" said the blonde.

"Good morning, Tohru," the dark-haired girl said in a dreamy voice.

"Morning Arisa! Morning Hana!" said Tohru with a smile. "I brought a few people for you to meet."

"Rogue, Raven," she said. "These are my friends, Arisa and Hanajima."

"Nice to meet you," said Arisa, the blonde, holding an outstretched hand, shaking both Rogue's and Raven's hands in turn. Rogue noticed she had a strong, firm handshake.

"A pleasure," said Hana in the same dreamy voice. She did not move to shake a hand but simply bowed her head slightly in Rogue and Raven's direction. "Your electric signals seem…different."

"Thank…you," said Rogue. He knew that he and Raven must be exuding some kind of presence in the Force that this girl could feel. It made him slightly uneasy.

"Yo, orange-top," said Arisa to Kyo. "Are you ready to lose at cards again?"

"I never lost! You cheated!"

They broke into an argument that could be heard all the way down the hall.

"How was your weekend, Tohru?" asked Hana.

"Oh, it was quite nice."

Conversations continued to fill up the space. The only one remaining silent was Yuki. It was then that he spotted movement near the stairs. Rogue noticed the same thing. He turned his head in time to see four girls, with determined frowns pasted on their faces. They stood their ground for a second while everyone turned to look at them. Suddenly, they launched into a cheer, moving their bodies to spell out a word. They were moving too fast for Rogue to decipher what it said. That's when he heard them cheering.

"Yuki! Yuki! Yuki! Yuki!"

When the cheer ended, they were again standing confrontationally in front of the group.

"We are the Prince Yuki Fan Club!" declared the girl in front, obviously the leader. "We-"

She broke off in mid-sentence. "…President Motoko?" inquired the girl to her left. The president only pointed a shaking finger that eventually came to rest at Raven.

"There are _two of them now!_" she said quietly but with panic.

Hana turned her head to look at them. They all froze, then dashed in a cloud of smoke down the hallway.

There were a few seconds of silence, and then the conversations resumed as if nothing had interrupted them.

. . .

When the day was over, Tohru, Yuki, Kyo, Rogue, and Raven walked back along the dirt path. Tohru had received a day off, much to her panic, but had agreed to walk with the other four back to the house.

It was dusk, and steadily getting darker. There was a soft breeze that seemed to toy with Rogue's senses. He sniffed. The air didn't have the same smell as he would have normally guessed.

Suddenly there was a flash and a thunderclap and rain started pouring down.

"Well, that's surprising," said Yuki. "The weather report didn't say anything about rain."

_Something isn't normal about this storm,_thought Rogue.

He gave a sideways glance at Raven, who had a tense look on her face, no doubt sensing the same thing Rogue was. When he looked back…the others were gone.

"Tohru? Kyo?" he said with unease.

"Yuki!" Raven shouted.

They were nowhere to be seen.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Rogue.

"No fair!" exclaimed Raven. "I was about to say that!"

The trees started to sway in the wind. Their leaves rustled with wild abandon, as if they knew what was coming. The wind picked up to a howl, lashing at the landscape. Rogue looked up for a few seconds, and what he saw sent a disturbance coursing through the Force.

Black mass materialized in the opening between two trees, and tendrils of the shadow snaked upward to vanish in the sky. They began to make a shape. Rogue stared with interest, but was suddenly hit in the face with something. Gasping, he tumbled backward, almost falling into the tree. Rubbing his head, he grasped in his hand what had struck him.

A tennis ball.

It was then that everything made sense to him.

The shadow slowly fell away, and a figure stepped out into the maelstrom. It was the same dark, mysterious figure that had spirited Rogue and Raven away on the journey a few long days ago from Earth.

Raven gasped in surprise. "Tennis Ball Guy!"

The man put a hand to his face. "Tennis Ball Guy is not my name. My real name is-"

A thunderclap drowned out his next few words.

"-so don't forget that."

Rogue and Raven nodded. Neither had heard what his name was, but they were not willing to chance asking him again.

"I'm here to explain a few things to you," he said. He didn't have to shout at all, even though the thunder was deafening.

"All right," said Rogue. "You can start by telling us what good _these_ are for."

He reached into his jumpsuit and pulled out the holoprojector and the floppy disc.

Tennis Ball Guy pointed, and Rogue could feel the objects tremble in his hand. "Those are your Universe Almanacs. They will answer your questions and guide you along your journey. They are very important, and there is one in every Universe."

Rogue snorted. He didn't mention that every time they had asked them for help, they hadn't gotten any useful information.

Suddenly both he and Raven were thrown from their feet. Tennis Ball Guy stood perfectly still, unfazed. There was a massive tremor. Rogue looked up. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized what he was witnessing.

It was the same dark mass that he and Raven had been sucked into in the installation on Fondor.

But it was about fifty times as big.

"That," said Tennis Ball Guy, "is a Universe Gateway. And now, I must be going. Enjoy your trip!"

Rogue watched him disappear in a pillar of smoky shadow that rose toward the sky and vanished.

Raven screamed, and Rogue jumped to catch her hand. They rose with gaining velocity at the Gateway, and Rogue could still feel that massive tremors, even though they were no longer on the ground. He had little time to prepare himself before he and Raven were sucked into oblivion.

Everything turned white, and then they were gone.

**Author's note: I didn't want to spoil what the next Universe was before anyone started the chapter, so I decided to put the disclaimer at the end.**

**Disclaimer: We do not own any of the copyrighted material present in this story, which includes but is not limited to Star Wars and Fruits Basket.**

**Please review!  
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	8. A New Frontier

Chapter 8

When the blinding white light subsided from Raven's vision, she opened her eyes.

She was lying face down. Cool grass, wet from dew, rested against her cheek. It was colored a pastel-like green, contrary to real grass. She raised her head a bit higher. In front of her was a beaten dirt path with trees on one side and a rocky cliff face on the other. She rolled over on her back, letting her curtain of blonde hair fall behind her head. She was staring at the underside of a tree. It was morning, as far as Raven could tell, but something was different about it. The light seemed…as if it was painted on by hand. She squinted.

There was a groan from a few feet away. Raven turned her head to see Rogue sprawled out in an uncomfortable position that one might assume after having a really bad night. He looked like he was going to be sick again, but he quickly composed himself. Rogue looked at Raven with a glazed over look in his eyes. "Where the heck are we now?"

"That's a very good question," replied Raven. "I'm surprised you, in all your infinite knowledge, don't know already."

Rogue groaned again. "I have it narrowed down a bit."

"And what is your assessment, oh Jedi Master?"

"We're still in an anime. Our looks haven't changed much."

It was true. Now that Rogue had pointed it out, Raven noticed that his eyes had become taller and thinner. She had gotten so used to his anime appearance that she hadn't noticed immediately.

"Well," she said. "That _really _narrows it down, now doesn't it? Remember, Rogue, I am a Manga/Anime fan, and there are plenty that involve a forest."

Without a word, Rogue stood up and walked into the bushes. He returned with several piles of clothes. Raven stared at him in puzzlement. "Where'd you get those?"

He looked up at the trees. "It's kinda weird. I can hear these things…calling to me somehow. I think it's my sixth sense."

Raven stared at her friend like he'd just said he was going to college in Timbuktu to earn a degree in underwater basket weaving. She didn't question it though. With all the strange stuff that had been happening lately, this didn't come close to the most surprising revelation. She looked at the pile of clothes Rogue held in his left hand and raised an eyebrow.

Rogue knew what was coming. "Hey, I'm not the one who chose these outfits," he said defensively.

Raven gave him a sideways glance. "Yes, but you _are _the one who heard them talking to you, so I think you deserve some of the blame."

Rogue sighed and tossed the outfit at her. She caught it and sat staring at it for a few seconds. "Time for a costume change."

. . .

When Rogue came out from behind the bushes, he was completely transformed. His outfit included a pair of tennis shoes, socks, khaki cargo shorts, a white t-shirt, a navy blue jacket, and a red and black cap. He also had an interesting belt added to the ensemble. Six strange clips encircled it. Rogue was puzzled about it, but he had a feeling that he would figure out what it meant soon enough.

He looked around. "Raven?"

Seconds later, she emerged from the bushes on the other side. Rogue was amazed at the transformation.

Raven was dressed in a pair of very short blue jean shorts and a tight maroon t-shirt, clothes Rogue knew she never would have chosen for herself. In addition, her curtain of blonde hair was pulled into a wild ponytail, also something that she was reluctant to do. If Rogue hadn't known better, he might have mistaken her for someone else. She was also carrying a forest-green drawstring backpack. Rogue gave her a thumbs up.

She reacted by hefting the Blonde Crutch throwing it at him like a boomerang. After whacking Rogue in the stomach, Raven called it back to her hand with ease.

Rogue recovered quickly. He walked over to Raven and took a look at her bag.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. "Just as I suspected!"

"What?" asked Raven.

"We're in an anime, right?" said Rogue. "That means anime physics apply. One of the perks is that you can store an infinite amount of things in a backpack with complete disregard for its size."

"Quite handy," observed Raven.

"Now," said Rogue. "To figure out where we are."

The pair walked onto the dirt path. Rogue headed in the direction that Raven had been facing when she awoke. The path rounded the cliff wall and curved in the opposite direction around the rock face. The right side of the path led to the edge of a cliff below, and Rogue and Raven were rewarded with a spectacular view.

A sea of hills stretched out before them, extending as far as the eye could see. Raven could see that the dirt path led all the way down the cliff and through the center of the hills as it grew wider. Several neat houses lined the side of the road, separated by clean white fences. At the top of the tallest hill stood a building that looked somewhat like a research office with a windmill spinning lazily next to it. In the distance, Raven could see a cloud of dust and hear an animal noise with her Force-enhanced senses. She could sense a huge mass of life forms. Was it a preserve?

Beside her, Rogue was staring with awe. He took a deep breath, and exhaled.

"Raven," he said. "I think we're going to have a fun time in _this _Universe."

She rolled her eyes. Rogue, of course, seemed to know everything before it actually happened. Before she knew it, he was jogging down the path with a huge grin on his face. He motioned to her to follow. "Come on!"

Reluctantly, Raven trudged off after him, keeping pace. When they reached the bottom, Rogue was still full of energy.

_What has him so excited? _Raven thought.

Rogue headed straight for the building with the windmill. After passing through a white gate and walking another dirt path to the front door, Raven had become even more curious about the situation. What was this place?

Rogue walked up to the red-painted front door and pressed the button for the doorbell. A loud ringing echoed even outside of the house. Raven was suddenly uneasy. Who would need a doorbell that loud?

There was a soft creak and the door opened. Standing in the threshold was an older man in a white lab coat. His hair, Raven could tell, was supposed to be white, but whoever had colored this anime had made it look blonde (but not near as blonde as hers). His eyebrows came down between his eyes, giving him the stern look of a mentor or guide.

He spoke. "Hello. What can I do for you kids?"

Raven received the distinct impression from Rogue that he had been planning what he was going to say from the second they set eyes on the house from a distance.

"We're, uh, new Trainers," he said. "But we're not in the registry. We just decided to come here on our own."

The man scratched his chin. "Hmm, you seem to be a little old to begin your journey as Trainers. What are your names?"

Raven thought that since Rogue was doing most of the talking, she should at least answer questions that she knew the answers to. "I'm Raven," she said cheerfully. "And this is Rogue."

"Nice to meet you both," the man said. "Why don't you come inside?"

He led them to a living room. There was a table in the middle, surrounded on two sides by couches, and bookshelves lined two walls while a window served as another. Raven plopped down on the couch like she owned the place, while Rogue sat down carefully.

"Can I get you both some tea?" asked the man.

"Yes, please," said Rogue.

He disappeared into another room. As soon as he was gone, Raven turned to Rogue in a demanding manner. "Explain."

"Oh, c'mon!" said Rogue. "Don't tell me you don't recognize this place by now!"

"I don't. Spill. Where are we?"

"We're in the Pokémon Universe! Didn't you watch Pokémon on TV or play the games on your Game Boy when you were younger?"

Raven shook her head. "Never."

Rogue sighed with dismay. "And you call yourself an anime fan…"

Raven swung with the Blonde Crutch. Rogue ducked, and the Crutch almost hit the bookshelf. Scowling, Raven prodded Rogue instead. "So who's the geezer?"

"His name is Professor Oak. He's an esteemed Pokémon Professor."

A moment later, he walked back into the room, carrying two steaming mugs of tea on a tray.

_Speak of the devil_, thought Raven.

Rogue and Raven each selected a cup and began to sip it calmly.

"So," said Professor Oak. "Where are you kids from?"

Rogue racked his brains for a plausible cover story. It occurred to him that this was the third time he had to use his imagination on the spot in the same situation. Finally, after what seemed like hours to Rogue but only seconds to everyone else, he started to speak.

"We came from Snowpoint City," he said. "We have a cabin built into the side of Mt. Coronet, and trekked in the snow to reach a ferry that took us to Cinnabar Island, and we backtracked here from there."

"That's quite a long way!" said Professor Oak. "How would you like to see the Pokémon?"

Rogue was vibrating with excitement like a high-speed blender.

"We'd love to!" he said.

They followed Oak through a series of hallways until finally arriving at a different room. Raven got the distinct impression that it was a laboratory. The walls were covered in metal that was bolted together in sheets. On the far wall were several computer monitors, all displaying alphabetic characters that Raven didn't recognize. A few old-looking cupboards were on the right wall. To the left was a desk that supported a few pens, a sheet of paper, and another computer monitor that had a phone attached to it. Raven took everything in with interest, but failed to notice the room's centerpiece until she noticed Rogue staring at it.

It was a circular structure, with two cylindrical parts that extended from the floor and ceiling which left an open space between them. Inside the structure, fifteen identical spheres, each about the size of a softball, rested in compartments that only covered the bottom halves. The spheres appeared to be made of some type of heavily reinforced plastic, and were colored red on the top and white on the bottom. The two sections of each sphere were separated by a black band, and in the middle of the band were two white circles that protruded from the smooth structure. Raven guessed that it could be an emitter of some sort. She, along with Rogue, stood staring at them.

"Go ahead," said Oak. "Try one."

It was all the invitation that Rogue needed. He sped to the room's center with lightning speed and picked up a sphere. Raven walked over more slowly and selected a sphere. Light from the ceiling reflected off its smooth surface. It was surprisingly light, judging by its size. Now that she was closer, Raven could sense a tingling in the Force, coming from inside the sphere. It was a bright, aware, alive presence. Raven could feel it calling to her through the encased barrier.

Suddenly, much to Raven's surprise, the sphere split open. There was a noise similar to the sound a balloon would make if you shot it with a laser gun in the middle of the Grand Canyon, and a blinding white torrent of energy erupted from inside and formed itself into a shape on the floor. The white energy faded, and Raven found herself staring into two deep black eyes.

Standing in front of her was what looked like a larger version of a baby chick. It had an orange body, with a plume of yellow feathers on its head and ruffled feathers on its sides that Raven thought might conceal tiny wings. Its two feet were large and developed, almost comparable to talons on a bird of Earth. For a few seconds, neither moved, until the chick turned its head to the side slightly, staring at Raven while doing so.

"That," said Oak, "is a Torchic."

Raven turned her head to match the angle of the Torchic's. It opened its beak slightly, and a cry of joy escaped. Without provocation, it jumped into Raven's arms excitedly.

"It's a fire type Pokémon, a perfect starter for Trainers."

Raven could feel how warm it was, as if there was an internal flame inside of it.

"Actually," said Oak, "It's true. Torchic has an internal flame sac like many other Fire-type Pokémon."

Hey! Oak wasn't supposed to be able to read the text!

Meanwhile, Rogue was looking over the other fourteen spheres. He selected one carefully, holding it out in front of him. It split open and the energy that was released from it formed into another Pokémon.

This one was a lizard-like Pokémon. Its body was orange, and it had a yellow belly. It had large, half-oval eyes that reflected light in many shades. The claws on the ends of its feet and arms shone a sparkling white. There was a small flame on the end of its tail that radiated life.

"A Charmander!" exclaimed Rogue.

"That it is," said Oak. "It is also a Fire-type."

As if on cue, the Charmander opened its mouth and released a fireball that faded in the air. It looked up at Rogue and smiled.

Rogue smiled as well. "I've made my decision," he said.

_Decision? _thought Raven. _What decision?_

Rogue lifted the sphere high in the air.

"I choose Charmander!" he said triumphantly. Extravagantly awesome music began playing in the background.

"A fine choice, indeed," said Oak. "Charmander is a very loyal Pokémon."

_Does that mean… _Raven looked at the Torchic in her arms. _…That we're going to take these Pokémon with us?_

The Torchic's big black eyes stared at her. Raven had made her own choice.

"I choose Torchic," she said, with much less enthusiasm than Rogue had displayed.

"Excellent," said the Professor. "There's only two more things to give you before you set out on your adventure."

He walked over to the desk and retrieved a few items, handing them to Rogue and Raven. In his hand, Raven could see that he had a strange, red device and three of the spheres for each of them.

"Here are your Poké Balls," Raven assumed that he meant the spheres. "And your Pokédex."

Raven then sensed a tug in the Force. It was Rogue. As excited as he was over his experience so far, there was something different. Raven thought it might be his sixth sense. The presence from the Force was fleeting, however, as Rogue managed to mask it within seconds.

"Thank you, Professor," he said.

They walked out the door, waving all the way, with their new Pokémon tucked snugly in their Poké Balls. Raven was beginning to feel some of the same excitement as Rogue. Even without prior knowledge, Raven could tell that everything had the potential to become very interesting.

. . .

Rogue and Raven were completely unaware that they were being watched. An image of them zoomed backward to reveal that it was produced by a pair of binoculars that looked much like the electrobinoculars of the Star Wars universe. There were three sets of binoculars, all directed at the same place. Three figures held the binoculars. Two were human, and one was a Pokémon.

"What do we have here?" said a woman with a ridiculously large curl of magenta hair. "Two Trainers out for a stroll?"

"I hope they have some food," said a man with long, blue hair. "We haven't eaten in three days…"

"Be quiet, James!" snapped the woman. "This plan will never work if you keep thinking with your stomach!"

"A can of fish would be nice," said the Pokémon.

"Not you too, Mewoth! Focus on the plan!"

James leaned over to Mewoth. "Am I the only one who's noticed that none of Jessie's plans ever go according to plan when there is food involved?"

"What was that?" Jessie asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing!" said James nervously. "We were just discussing how perfect this plan is!"

"Yes!" cried Jessie. "No one besides me could have come up with a plan so elegant!"

"It's almost time!" said Mewoth.

. . .

Rogue and Raven soon made it to the forest where they had landed. Rogue was taking in all the sights with a renewed vision, now that he knew where they were.

"So where are we going?" asked Raven.

"Viridian City," answered Rogue. "The first stop for everyone."

"So what does it mean, this…trainer thing?" inquired Raven.

"Pokémon Trainers raise Pokémon to compete in battles with other Pokémon, travelling around the world to see many different kinds. Around each region are Pokémon Gyms, where there is a Gym Leader. If the Leader is defeated, a badge is earned, and eight badges are earned, the trainer can enter the Pokémon League."

As he was explaining, Raven noticed Rogue's demeanor change again. He took out the Pokédex from his pocket. Raven watched him stare at it for a minute. "So what does that fancy thing do?"

"It's a data storage device about Pokémon," Rogue replied. "It dispenses information on the different species."

A glint shone in his eye. "But that's not all it is."

He held it up to the sunlight. "It's also our Universe Almanac."

"Great," said Raven sarcastically. "Another one of those useless things."

Rogue ignored her. He flipped open the Pokédex. It began to speak.

"I am Pokédex Unit 3246, assigned to Trainers Rogue and Raven by Professor Oak of Pallet Town."

Rogue pressed a few buttons. Text appeared on the screen.

_I am also your Universe Almanac. Questions of this sort should be properly stated at the time they are needed. That is all._

The Pokédex shut itself off.

Raven rolled her eyes.

Rogue replaced the Pokédex in his pocket and they continued walking.

Suddenly, Rogue and Raven were yanked off their feet and lifted in the air. After a few seconds, Rogue could tell that they had been caught in a net.

"Great," said Raven.

"Hey, Raven!" came Rogue's voice. "Do you think you can reach my lightsaber?"

Raven was about to reach for her own when she heard the sound of triumphant laughter. "What the…"

Dramatic but cheesy music began to play in the background. Raven looked up. Floating above the net was a hot air balloon in the shape of a cat-like creature. Two people, a man and a woman, one with gigantic magenta hair and the other with long blue hair, stood in the basket. Both were wearing white uniforms with a large red "R" stamped across the front. They began, beginning with the woman, to alternate lines.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

A cat-like creature identical to that of the balloon popped up to say the last line: "Mewoth! That's right!"

For a few seconds, Raven stared at them. Then, she turned her head as much as was possible to give Rogue a look. "What just happened?"

Rogue's palm went right to his face. "Please tell me it's not these guys…"

"Now hand over all your Pokémon!" said Jessie.

"Could you throw in a biscuit with all of that?" asked James desperately.

"Quiet!" snapped Jessie.

While they were arguing, Rogue and Raven had used their lightsabers to cut themselves free of the net. Raven stared up at the bickering trio. "Um, hello? We just escaped!"

The three made noises of surprise. Raven saw Rogue reach onto his belt and pull out a Poké Ball.

"I've always wanted to do this," he said.

Again, music started to play.

"Go, Charmander!" shouted Rogue, tossing his Poké Ball into the air.

It spun rapidly, and then unleashed the white energy from inside. Within seconds, Charmander was standing on the ground in front of Rogue, looking ready for a fight. Raven watched with interest. Was this what a Pokémon battle was like?

"Charmander, use Ember!" said Rogue.

Charmander opened its mouth, unleashing rapid bolts of fire, which rocketed at the balloon.

In the basket, James was getting nervous.

"Jessie," he said. "Didn't your plan specify the capture of an Electric-type Pokémon?"

In the next moment, the balloon was hit by the flaming barrage. There was a pop, and air came bursting out of the balloon. It spun crazily in the sky before spectacularly exploding (due to the fact that, in anime, non-explosive materials always explode).

The three members of Team Rocket, true to their title, hurtled off into the sky.

"What did we do to deserve this?" cried James.

His question was followed by a chorus of "looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The figures shrank into the distance and became a four-pointed star in the blue sky.

Raven stared. "That was…interesting."

Rogue sighed. "Well, chances are that it's going to happen again, so you might as well get used to it."

. . .

The pair continued down the path to Viridian City, walking in silence. Both were exhausted. After days of nonstop action (if one could call it that), Rogue and Raven were walking through a forest, similar to the jungles on Mimban. To Raven, the trek through the Mimbanian jungles seemed like a lifetime ago, even though it was only a few days ago.

The strangest part about the entire thing (if you exclude the oddities of the Universes) was that every time they had the opportunity to gain information, it was always given out on a restricted basis.

It was almost as if the people or things running the show had something very dangerous to hide.

Raven shook the thoughts from her head. She would think about that later…

Fortunately, it didn't take very long to get to Viridian City. Rogue and Raven stepped out from the path as it morphed into a concrete roadway. Raven saw skyscrapers and many other tall buildings. The ones that were the furthest away seemed less exact more shaded, and the closer Rogue and Raven got to them, the greater detail they exhibited. The focal point of the Universe seemed to be centered on the two friends.

Raven was so busy taking in the workings of perspective that she almost crashed into Rogue. He had stopped and was staring at a massive, domed building, comparable to a stadium, directly ahead. It had walls of white and tinted glass windows, and a gigantic red "P" designated it as a special building.

Rogue started heading toward it with the seeming mindlessness of a zombie. Raven opened her mouth to speak, but her mouth curved into a smug grin. She had an idea.

Rogue seemed not to notice. He was staring at the big red "P" like it was the key to preserving life. He seemed not to think. Suddenly, an orange mass obscured his vision. Rogue felt his skull being jabbed with something sharp. He let out an extremely strange yell and flailed around. Raven was standing a few feet away, doubled over with laughter.

"Hey, Rogue," she said between howls. "Snap out of it!"

Rogue finally reached onto his head and grabbed whatever was there, holding it out in front of him. It was Torchic.

Torchic opened its beak…and fire bolts erupted from it.

Rogue stood holding it, his face blackened and scorched badly. On Earth, he would have had to go to the hospital, but they were not on Earth. Rogue gently set Torchic on the ground. "By the way, Raven, that was an Ember attack."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed.

They headed to the mysterious building with the large "P" once again. They stood in front of the doors, and with a hiss they slid apart. Raven stared inside in wonder.

The inside of the building looked like a combination of a hospital waiting room and the lobby of a hotel. The closest walls were made of glass, and the structure was supported by a wide inner column that seemed to contain wards of some kind. Everything had a yellowish tint to it, which gave off a homey kind of mood.

The building seemed to be empty save a woman with pinkish hair sitting behind a desk that faced the door, typing at a computer. She wore a large white apron over a pink dress, and on her head rested a white cap with a red cross stamped on it.

By this time, Raven had pieced together that they were at some kind of medical institution. The woman looked up from her computer to see Rogue and Raven standing in the doorway. Both took a few small steps inside and the doors slid closed behind them.

"Welcome to the Viridian City Pokémon Center," said the woman. "How may I help you?"

It took a few seconds for Rogue to regain his ability to speak.

"Nurse Joy," he said. "Could we have our Pokémon healed, a bite to eat, and a room to stay the night?"

"Why, certainly!" said Nurse Joy with a smile. "If you would place your Poké Balls on the tray, they should be perfectly well within a few minutes."

She handed them a tray with six slots that were quite obviously for the spheres. Raven carefully removed the Poké Ball that contained Torchic from her bag. Even though she had only known the Pokémon for a few short hours, Raven was already quite attached to it. However, she was willing to trust Rogue's judgment in the matter, as he was placing his own Poké Ball on the tray.

Suddenly a round, pink thing rounded the corner of the desk. Raven almost jumped in surprise. It skipped along, singing to itself. It had a pouch in its front that contained what looked like an egg, and it wore a cap identical to Nurse Joy's.

Raven fumbled around in her bag. It was starting to get quite full of stuff, though she could not feel the excessive amount of weight that would be normal on Earth. She rummaged through the holoprojector, the floppy disc, the comlinks, and her lightsabers before finally finding what she was looking for. She yanked the Pokédex out of the bag and held it in front of her.

"Let's see if this thing actually works," she said, flipping it open.

To her surprise, the screen lit up to display a picture of the pink creature in front of her and began speaking.

"Chansey: the egg Pokémon. It has instincts that give it a propensity for healing, making it an ideal assistant at Pokémon Centers."

"Hmm," said Raven. She hadn't expected the Pokédex to be informative at all, considering the fact that the last two Universe Almanacs were complete wastes of space in the limitless storage of her bag. It was a nice change. Perhaps she would use the Pokédex more often.

Meanwhile, Rogue was staring at the far side of the Center, where Chansey was already making some food. In the back of his head, Rogue thought he heard a tiny voice call "steak", but he couldn't be sure. Raven seemed to sense the feeling, and prodded him with the Blonde Crutch behind her back. She made a comment under her breath that included the phrases "food" and "talking to him". Rogue didn't quite catch it.

. . .

A few minutes later, Rogue and Raven were seated across from each other at a pale yellow table that was up against the glass wall. Neither had taken notice of the time, and over the past few hours the sun had slowly dropped over the flatlands to the west, darkening the sky to a murky blue color.

Rogue sipped his tea. Raven wondered about string cheese. They had not realized how ravenously hungry they were until they had smelled the food cooking in the kitchen. Rogue's hand shook as he watched the sugar cube dissolve in the murky brown liquid in his mug. Raven stared outside, her eyes bloodshot and her mouth dry as bone. The scene was what one might find in a cartoon if someone had held up a sign that said "a few hours later" and no one had moved.

Chansey returned, balancing several trays of food, with two in each of its arms and one balanced on top of its head. The trays were slid onto the table, right into the food radars of the two friends. Within seconds, they had devoured the entire meal, which included French fries, six hamburgers, broccoli, green beans, chicken strips, and a fish filet.

It took only a few seconds more for the weight of the wonderful feast to sink in. Chansey shouted gleefully and skipped back into the kitchen.

Rogue groaned. "If we were on Earth right now, I would have widened by at least an inch."

Raven was disappointed. "They didn't bring us any string cheese!"

But, when Chansey reappeared, it brought with it not string cheese, but a fluffy soufflé that wobbled on a tray, covered in strawberries and whipped cream. Rogue was of the opinion that Chansey's skipping was precarious. He looked nervously at the floor…and almost choked on his tea.

On the floor was a rock.

It was too late to warn Chansey. As it tripped over the rock, it let out a yelp and the soufflé was catapulted high in the air. It spun several times before landing upside down on the table, spontaneously exploding. When the powdered sugar smoke cleared, Rogue, covered in whipped cream, and Raven, splattered with strawberry sauce, sat staring at the pieces of cake that remained on the table. Chansey made a noise of surprise and scurried back into the kitchen.

Raven scraped some strawberry sauce off her face with her finger and tasted it. "Not bad."

. . .

After the fabulously exciting dinner, Rogue and Raven were shown to a room with bunk beds. Raven insisted that she take the bottom bunk. The mattress was very comfortable.

_This must be a really great place to stay_, thought Raven.

That last time either of them had received a decent night's sleep was back in the Fruits Basket Universe. Raven was eager to let her eyes close and allow sleep to transport her to a land of relaxation.

It was then that Raven had a dream.

She was floating in a strange, weightless place, where she could see a multitude of different things floating around randomly. She tried to grasp a lamp that moved close to her, but it seemed repelled by her hand as she reached for it.

At the center of the dream was a shadowy, amorphous blob, convulsing under some type of stress. As Raven stared at it, she heard a sound. It was the chilling rush of deep, evil laughter that echoed around the dream. It rose to a deafening rumble, and the blob pulsated wildly, as something reached out of it.

Raven screamed.

She woke up, almost clobbering herself on the low ceiling of the bed. Her hands felt cold and clammy, and her heart was pumping much faster than normal. She could remember the dream with vivid imagery. Through the haze of regaining consciousness, Raven knew only one thing for sure.

She had witnessed something evil.

**Author's note: Again, for the purposes of story suspense, I have put the disclaimer at the end.**

** Disclaimer: We do not own any of the copyrighted material present in this chapter, which includes but is not limited to Star Wars, Fruits Basket, and Pokémon.**


	9. Idiots, Gym Battles and Earth Movers

Chapter 9

The next morning, Rogue grunted in his sleep. As he was waking up, he raised his head slightly, stretching out his arms. He rolled over, reluctant to pull his ragged body out of the comfy bed. Forcing himself into consciousness, he used his hands to push himself upward, banging his head against the ceiling. Disoriented, Rogue tumbled off the bed and landed with a loud thud on the floor. His noisemaking caused Raven to stir. With her face buried in the pillow, her hair made her look like some kind of swamp monster slowly rising from the weeds. When her face appeared, it wasn't much better. Her eyes were bloodshot and there were huge, shadowed circles under them.

Rogue's eyes widened. "Wow. Rough night, huh?"

Raven nodded. She wasn't sure if she should tell Rogue about the dream immediately, but decided to wait until the opportune moment. There was something strange about it…

Rogue and Raven walked with a gait comparable to that of a zombie all the way to breakfast, again served by Chansey. However, this time, there were a few more people seated at tables in the lobby. None looked older than our main characters.

After attacking an egg muffin, Raven drained two glasses of orange juice. She had not bothered to do anything to make herself presentable, still dressed in pajamas with her hair standing up on end like she had jammed her finger into a light socket. Her eyes were only half open, staring off into the distance. Rogue was enjoying the sunrise, with a hand stroking an invisible goatee. He had at least taken a few minutes to splash some water on his face and throw his regular outfit on, and by doing so had rid himself of much of the morning's sloth-like progression. He nibbled on a piece of toast and gulped down an entire glass of milk.

Charmander and Torchic were eating from a bowl of Pokémon food set out for them next to Rogue and Raven's table. Both were highly enthusiastic. Rogue noted this with interest. "They say that a Pokémon usually reflects the demeanor of its Trainer, but it might be too early in the morning for that to apply."

"You do realize that I'm only half-listening to you, right?" said Raven. "It's been a freakin' crazy week so far, and my sleep was ruined last night. But anyway, where are we going next?"

Rogue pointed at the wall next to the front desk.

"That's a map of Kanto," he said. "From here we go north through Viridian Forest and we'll end up in Pewter City, where the first Gym is."

"Brilliant," said Raven. "Another forest."

She proceeded to wolf down a biscuit covered in jelly. Rogue carefully selected a bowl of yogurt and sprinkled granola on top.

Both were eating so profusely that neither noticed a tall, lanky boy with black hair walk up next to their table. He sniffed, as though something about the pair disappointed him.

"Morning," he said mockingly.

Rogue put down the spoonful of yogurt he was about to eat and turned around to stare. Raven tried to say something, but it was indiscernible through her mouthful of biscuit. She swallowed loudly, and a sizeable lump slid down her throat before she could be understood. "Do we know you?"

The black-haired boy flipped his hair to the side with a cocky grin. "I doubt it. I don't usually associate with novices like you two."

Raven's eyes lost their dazed look and acquired one of frustration. Rogue could have sworn that he saw her irises turn an evil yellow color for a split second. He raised an eyebrow.

He gave the boy a sideways glance. "Dude, you don't want to get on her bad side this morning."

He ignored Rogue, gesturing at the Pokémon. "Just look at your Pokémon. They obviously need better training."

By this time, there was smoke coming out of Raven's ears. "Is that so?"

She drummed her fingers on the table. Her eye twitched. Her other hand was near her waist. Rogue's eyes went wide. He knew what was coming.

But before Raven could lash out with the Crutch, the boy did another obnoxious hair flip.

"I'm done talking to you losers. See ya around…or not."

He turned around and walked with a swagger out of the Center.

Raven was boiling mad. "The nerve of that guy!" she exclaimed.

Rogue wiped his face with a napkin. "Well, I'm ready to go when you are."

Raven sighed. "Alright. Let's makes sure we have everything."

Rogue took Raven's green bag and started digging around in it. His brow began to furrow. He started rummaging faster. Raven looked at him just as he looked up from the bag in horror.

"Aw, sithspit!" he moaned. "The floppy disc is gone!"

He paused. "Listen to me. I'm freaking out about a _floppy disc_."

Rogue then continued to freak out, talking extremely fast. Raven stared at him for a moment, then pulled out the Crutch, whacking him on the head with it. He crumpled to the floor. Raven waited for exactly three seconds before slapping him. Rogue suddenly regained consciousness.

"I know where he's headed! Let's go!"

. . .

Rogue and Raven dashed through the city. They were running surprisingly fast, considering what was at stake. Every few seconds, Rogue had to adjust his hat, which annoyed Raven to no end, but she let it slide because they were in a hurry. Several bystanders looked at the pair like they were lunatics, but these glances went completely unnoticed.

"For crying out loud!" exclaimed Rogue. "Viridian City was never this big on my Game Boy!"

After several more excruciating minutes, Rogue and Raven reached a building that seemed to serve as a gate. They burst through the door, stopping to catch their breath. There was a lone guard seated at a desk to the left of them. He was munching on a donut and reading a magazine.

"Did you see a tall boy with black hair run through here?" Rogue wheezed.

"Why, yes," he replied. "He was carrying something small and square." He held out a white box to Rogue. "Donut?"

Rogue couldn't resist. He grabbed three and Raven selected one carefully before both of them rocketed out the door. They emerged in a heavily shaded forest and came to a stop. Raven could sense that the place teemed with life. As she stared up at the canopy, something dropped into her field of vision.

She squealed in fright, causing Rogue, who had just taken a bite out of his last donut, to jump, dropping it. Something flew down and grabbed the donut. Seeing what it was caused Rogue to scream. He grabbed Raven and started running in the opposite direction.

Raven was disoriented for a few seconds, but in those few seconds she could hear a buzzing that grew in volume with each step she took. She chanced a glance backward…

…And almost wished she hadn't.

Behind them were tons of the most vicious-looking bugs she had ever seen. They had a yellow body color and were striped black at the abdomen. Their clear wings were moving so fast that you could hardly see them at all. The ends of what could have been arms sported two gigantic stingers, along with one on the abdomen's rear. On their heads were gigantic red eyes that shone an angry red. The leader was carrying Rogue's half-eaten donut in its concealed mouth.

Rogue was running with all his might. "It's a swarm of Beedrill, and they're not happy!"

Raven took this opportunity to dig the Pokédex out of her bag and flip it open.

"Beedrill: the poison bee Pokémon. They are quite protective of their habitat and always travel in groups. The sting of this Pokémon is extremely poisonous."

"That doesn't sound good," commented Raven, closing the Pokédex. "How do we get away from these things?"

"_We keep running!_" shouted Rogue.

Trees flew by almost faster than the eye could see. The buzzing in Raven's ears, like a broken pair of headphones, was deafening. It was driving her completely crazy. She stopped running and turned around.

"STOP BUZZING!" she screamed.

The Beedrill swarm halted. The leader, with the donut still in his mouth, flew forward. For a few seconds, nothing happened, as both Raven and the lead Beedrill stood their ground and stared daggers at each other. The Beedrill made the first move. It raised one of its stingers and shot tons of glowing barbs at Raven.

"Watch out!" shouted Rogue. "That's a Poison Sting attack!"

Raven dodged, cartwheeling to the left. The Beedrill fired again. This time, she held out her hand and blocked the barbs with the Force. The Beedrill buzzed. Rogue sensed that it realized it had found a formidable opponent. It buzzed orders to the rest of the swarm, and they took off in the direction from which they had come.

"That," declared Raven, "is why no one messes with me in the morning."

"Well, well," came a voice from the trees. "Looks like you guys aren't _total _losers."

Rogue's eyes narrowed. The black-haired boy walked out from behind a large tree, grinning like he had just won a trophy filled with a lifetime supply of chocolate tortillas. He was spinning something around in his hand.

_The floppy disc! _exclaimed Rogue. _Wait…the floppy disc…_

The boy did another obnoxious hair flip. "You want this…" he stroked the floppy disc, "don't you?"

The boy swaggered. "There's only one way you can get it back."

"What's that?" asked Raven.

Rogue didn't need to be told what it was. He had already taken his Poké Ball from his belt.

"You should probably know my name before I pulverize you," the boy said mockingly. "They call me Jackson."

"Congratulations!" said Raven. "No one cares! Now, what the heck do we have to do to get the floppy disc back?"

Rogue and Jackson were too busy staring at each other with contempt to hear her. Each was waiting for the other to make the first move…

"I'll give you an advantage," said Jackson. "Go, Raticate!"

His Poké Ball bounced off the ground and erupted into white energy. A few seconds later, a brown-furred creature quite clearly based on a rat was standing in front of him. It had huge teeth, long whiskers, and a set of eyes that could intimidate the most hardened of foes.

Raven was quick with the Pokédex.

"Raticate: the mouse Pokémon. It uses its highly developed teeth to deliver a nasty bite and can be very quick on its feet."

"Well," said Raven. "Now we know about that, but I _still_ don't know how to get the floppy disc back!"

"My turn!" said Rogue. He went into a pitching stance and hurled his Poké Ball forward, so fast that the black ring around its middle appeared to leap off of the surface. Charmander was then standing in front of the Raticate, which was at least twice its size. Charmander, however, did not appeared to be the least bit intimidated. Its eyes turned two shades of red and purple, and the flame on its tail roared and grew larger.

"Wow," said Raven, her eyebrows raising in surprise. "That's one determined lizard."

Jackson chuckled. "Not even with a Rage attack will your Charmander be able to defeat my battle-hardened Raticate!"

He began laughing so hard that his head flew back and he began to shake, causing Raven to acquire a look of disgust. Meanwhile, while Jackson was distracted, Rogue shouted "Charmander, use Ember!"

Charmander let out a long, drawn out cry and bits of flame spurted out of its mouth, hitting Raticate with a direct barrage to the face. As Charmander looked to see survey the damage it had done, it jumped, and a bead of sweat ran down the back of its head.

Raticate was incredibly and royally peeved.

Its whiskers became as straight as rods, and its eyes turned an angry yellow. Suddenly, with lightning speed, Raticate lunged forward with its sizeable front teeth, preparing for a bite. Rogue saw what was coming.

"Dodge, Charmander!"

Within a split second of Rogue's command, Charmander swerved to the right to avoid the attack. Raticate slammed hard into the ground, jamming its teeth into a rock. Charmander glanced back and smirked in satisfaction.

But Raticate wasn't finished. It bit down on the rock with incredible force, causing it to explode into dust. Charmander's eyes widened and it dashed in the other direction.

It was then that Rogue had an idea.

"Charmander!" he shouted. "Aim your Ember at the ground!"

Puzzled, Charmander stared at him for a moment, but the advance of the enraged Raticate encouraged it to hasten its retaliation. Taking precise aim, Charmander spat flames at the ground, causing it to rocket up into the air!

"Now! Fire Spin!"

Charmander hung suspended in the air for a second. Then it began to spin, at first slow, then accelerating to a blinding blur. The flame on its tail rapidly increased in intensity, and from it spawned an immense tornado of fire.

Raticate had only seconds to look upon its crispy fate before it was engulfed by the firestorm. When everything cleared (coincidentally, at the same time as the music ended), Raticate was a blackened husk, recognizable only by its whiskers. Charmander stood triumphantly ejecting smoke from its nostrils.

"Haha!" said Rogue. "Looks like I won! Now, if you would so kindly return our floppy disc pl-"

He stopped in mid-sentence. Jackson was still laughing. It was so uncontrollable that he was rolling on the ground.

"Yo, moron!" said Raven, highly annoyed. "You just lost!"

Jackson stopped laughing. He wiped the last tear from his eye and surveyed the scene. In a moment of epiphany, he realized that what Raven said was indeed true. He mumbled something indiscernible and returned Raticate to its Poké Ball. Whistling, he started to walk away.

"Oops!" he said, with incredibly fake emphasis, "I dropped something."

The floppy disc slid from his palm and landed on the dirt path. Within barely a moment of its landing, the only trace that remained of Jackson was a telltale cloud of dust and the sound of rapidly receding footsteps.

Raven used the Force to call the disc to her hand. "Some idiots never change."

Rogue took a moment to return Charmander to its Poké Ball before taking a good look in front of him.

They were right in front of the gate that led out of the forest. He chuckled.

The gate was very much the same as the previous one, though there was no guard eating delicious breakfast pastries. There was only one thing blocking their way into the next city.

A door.

Raven stared at it. She knew she would only have one shot at it. There was a fifty percent chance that she would successfully manipulate it. Pushing these thoughts aside, Raven grasped the handle tightly and pulled.

Nothing happened.

Rogue facepalmed. "Raven, the sign says 'push'."

Raven squinted. All she could discern was a small, lit heading that denoted the action…in Japanese.

"Rogue! You never told me you could read Japanese!"

He pointed downward. Directly under the first sign was an identical one written in English."

"Oh…"

This time, Raven pushed, allowing sunlight to stream in through the doorway. It almost looked to be the gateway into heaven. Raven was disappointed to find that the city looked very much the same as the previous one.

"Well, let's go," said Rogue. "No one ever said this was going to glamorous."

. . .

A few minutes later, Rogue and Raven were seated at a small café. Rogue was hungrily tearing into a hamburger while Raven browsed through the newspaper. Rogue stared at his hamburger. A very disturbing thought had just entered his mind. If the entire Universe had Pokémon as replacements for animals…

He decided to save his last few mouthfuls, turning to Raven instead. "Find anything interesting?"

Raven pushed an imaginary pair of glasses up her nose. "As a matter of fact, I did."

Her eyes flashed. "I wanna try this Gym thing."

Rogue suddenly looked uneasy. "Are you sure?"

Raven beamed. "Positive! Watching you kick that loser's butt back there inspired me."

Rogue wasn't worried at all about how she would handle herself.

He was worried about the million other possibilities that seemed to follow Raven wherever she went.

. . .

Contrary to Raven's expectations, the Gym was actually quite a challenging place to find. After asking directions from a few crazy-looking people on the street, they finally found it. Raven had presumed the Gym to be imposing and awe-striking, but was disappointed.

The Gym was built into a rock.

Granted, it was quite a large rock, but Raven had been looking forward to a terror-instilling structure…

It was plain. A small, wooden door was mostly hidden by a huge slab of brown rock supported by a few stone walls and several wooden supports. "Gym" was scrawled into the top left-hand corner of the rock.

Raven walked up to the door and opened it. Poking her head inside, she could see that there was very little light inside.

"Yo!" she shouted. "If this is some kind of intimidation tactic, it's not going to work on me!"

There was no answer. Raven then eased herself fully into the door, with Rogue close behind. In the light escaping from the threshold, Raven could see across the entire building. She was separated from the other side by a rocky floor. Faintly, Raven could make out white lines that formed the shape of a rectangle along the edge of the rocky place with a circle smack dab in the middle.

She was standing before a battlefield.

Suddenly, lights that closely resembled those at a stadium blazed to life, illuminating the entire room. Raven could see clearly then, and her observant eyes took in everything. The space before her was definitely a battlefield. Rocks were everywhere, making a straight-line path in any direction almost impossible.

_So_, thought Raven, _where is this so-called Leader?_

As if to answer her question, a different light cast a golden glow on the opposite side of the battlefield, exactly in line with the rectangle in front of Raven. Sitting on a slightly raised pedestal was a young man dressed in brown pants and a green vest. He sat cross-legged, staring at the ground in deep concentration. Only after a few long seconds did his head rise. Raven, with her Force-enhanced senses, could see him from the opposite side. When his head finally reached a level position, he stared directly at Raven. As his eyes were only lines, it was hard to tell what he was looking at, but Raven felt them scrutinizing and analyzing her every feature, looking for clues to her style of battle.

He spoke. "Are you here for a Gym battle?"

"I am," said Raven with confidence.

He appeared to be unfazed. "Is this your first Gym match?"

"That it is."

No one moved. "Must I remind you of the special rules of Gym battles?"

A bead of sweat ran down the back of Raven's head. _Special rules? Rogue never mentioned any special rules…_

"Remind me."

The Leader nodded. "Each of us will use two Pokémon. The battle will continue until both of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle."

He stood up. "If you do happen to defeat me, you will earn a Boulder Badge, signifying your victory of Brock of Pewter Gym."

All the time that Brock was speaking, Rogue had been jumping up and down behind Raven and waving his hands frantically. Raven raised an eyebrow at him. "If you'll excuse me a moment, I think my 'coach' needs to have a few words with me."

Annoyed, she turned around to face Rogue with her hands on her hips. "What?"

"Um, Raven," said Rogue. "You only have one Pokémon."

Her face remained static. "And?"

"Brock said that each trainer will use two Pokémon."

"I heard what he said." She turn around, ignoring Rogue's protests. After a few seconds of mental preparation, Raven stepped into smaller the white rectangle at her feet.

"Let the battle begin," said Brock. "Go, Geodude!"

He hurled a Poké Ball into the field. It spun crazily for a few seconds before unleashing its contents on Brock's side of the field just short of the circle in the middle. When the light faded, a small, spherical rock with eyes, a mouth, and two muscular arms was hovering slightly above the ground.

Raven was quick with the Pokédex.

"Geodude: the Rock Pokémon. It has an incredibly sturdy body, rendering many physical attacks ineffective."

Raven narrowed her eyes, stroking an invisible goatee. Replacing the Pokédex back inside her bag, she selected a Poké Ball.

"Ok then," she said. "Go, Torchic!"

The Poké Ball did a flip high in the air, landing on the ground on the opposite side of the circle from Geodude. It sat still for a second, the erupted in a brilliant expulsion of blinding white light. Torchic then stood before them, its eyes set in a defiant stare.

"I'll start this thing off," said Brock. "Geodude, use Tackle!"

Geodude gave out a rumbling cry and launched itself forward with one arm outstretched. Raven barely had time to process the maneuver. Suddenly, she perceived everything in slow motion. She felt the Force flow through her, steadying and guiding her senses. She heard Rogue's voice in her head, clear through the chaos of battle.

_Raven! You can tell Torchic to dodge!_

"Dodge it, Torchic!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the progression of time closed upon its original passage. Raven watched as Torchic was able to spin to the right on its foot with incredible speed. Geodude looked back in surprise. Somehow there was a different kind of connection than normal between this trainer and her Torchic. Brock looked thrown off guard for a moment, but regained his game face quickly.

"That Torchic is fast," he said, "but it's still at a disadvantage against a Rock- type."

_Types play a huge part in battles_, commented Rogue. _But even at a disadvantage, strategy can be the difference between a shiny new badge to clean obsessively and disappointment._

Unfortunately, Raven knew only a few of Torchic's attacks. Based on Rogue's type advice, none were going to have much effect on Geodude. However, there wasn't an alternative.

"Torchic, use Ember!"

Torchic paused from its rapid dodging. It opened its beak, and Raven watched as an expanding orange ball of glowing fire formed inside. Just as Geodude was about to make another attempt at Tackle, Torchic released Ember. Bits of flame rocketed toward Geodude. It halted its charge forward, shielding its face with its right arm, weathering the oncoming attack. The collision left a large cloud of smoke in its wake, obscuring visibility on the battlefield.

Raven stretched out with the Force, trying to sense where the combatants were in the thick smoke. Brock simply stood with his arms folded, giving no direction that could be interpreted verbally.

Without warning, there was a cry of surprise. Geodude and Torchic blasted out of the smoke, with Torchic pinned by one of Geodude's arms. Using the smoke as cover, Geodude had scored a direct hit. Torchic rolled to the side, coming to a stop against a large rock that protruded from the field, badly bruised. Geodude hovered above it, analyzing its next pattern of attack.

Brock pointed. "Rock Throw, now!"

Geodude reacted instantly, dropping to the ground and splitting it with an incredible punch, causing the ground to shake violently. Chunks of rock flew in all directions, barely missing Torchic.

Raven grimaced. The situation was looking very bad. Torchic could only take one more hit before it would be finished.

As she was thinking this, Torchic was behaving strangely. It was sprawled on the ground, face down, but had started to glow with some sort of internal light. Geodude watched in shock as Torchic became a blazing creature cloaked in fire. It stood up gingerly, and then sent an extraordinary tunnel of fire straight at Geodude. For a moment there was only silence, as the flames gradually spun their way out of existence. Geodude was left blackened and smoking. It then dropped to the ground, hitting it with a thud, the telltale spirals of a knockout in its eyes.

Geodude was defeated.

_Wow_, thought Raven in awe.

She heard a loud beep from her bag. It was the Pokédex.

"Overheat: an extremely powerful Fire-type attack. Although it has the potential for great damage, it becomes less powerful each time it is used in a single battle."

Brock's eyebrows moved downward in determination. "Return, Geodude!"

A thin, slightly transparent beam of red light came from the Poké Ball in his hand, encompassing Geodude and calling it backward. Brock then replaced it in his vest and selected another. Raven was wary. If his next Pokémon was anything like Geodude, then victory would be very tough indeed.

"Onix, go!"

There was another spectacular release, and something much more dread inspiring appeared.

It was a gigantic snake made out of boulders with a spike on top of its head.

"Oh, snap," said Raven.

"Onix: the Rock Snake Pokémon. It burrows underground at incredible speeds and has a powerful Bind attack that squeezes the energy out of opponents."

Onix was easily ten times the size of Torchic. However, Torchic was not about to give up. It let out a cry and charged at Onix.

"Wait, Torchic!" exclaimed Raven. "Be careful!"

Torchic ran right up to the last few smaller rocks on Onix's body and began pecking at them furiously. Onix just stared at it, as if it could feel none of the attacks inflicted upon it.

"Onix, Bind now!"

The rocks that Torchic was pecking on began to move, encircling it. Raven gulped. Onix closed in quickly, wrapping itself around Torchic, almost smothering it.

"Quick, Torchic! You have to hang on!"

Torchic endured with painstaking stuggle, when suddenly it began to glow again…but it was different. It was not the same glow of Overheat, but one more like when it was released from its Poké Ball. It changed shape, becoming an amorphous blob that expanded outward. Onix's eyes grew large. When the glow faded, Torchic was no longer there. It had changed.

Torchic had evolved.

"Ah!" screamed Raven. "What just happened?"

"Torchic evolved into Combusken!" shouted Rogue. "If it has enough energy left, it could be the key to victory!"

Combusken did look quite a bit stonger than Torchic had been. It had a new determination in its eyes that matched the one Raven had seen in Torchic.

"Combusken!" directed Raven. "Can you try to break free?"

Combusken struggled with its arms, but to no avail.

"Raven!" shouted Rogue. "Combusken is also a Fighting-type! Try using Double Kick!"

"Combusken! Use Double Kick!"

There was an earsplitting cry. Combusken had used its legs to pry itself out of Onix's damaging embrace, and did a backflip back to the ground, landing on one knee. Then, after regaining its stability, it launched itself at Onix, slamming its four-toed foot directly between two rocks near Onix's middle. Onix let out a roar of pain and staggered backwards. It swung its massive tail at Combusken, colliding with massive force. Combusken was thrown to the other end of the battlefield, shaken, but still ready to fight.

"Onix, Headbutt!"

Onix thundered forward, lowering its head like a battering ram. The spike gleamed menacingly, as if it could impale anything that happened to be in its path.

"Dodge it, Combusken!"

Mere seconds before Onix struck, Combusken launched itself up into the air. Onix collided with the rock that Combusken had been standing in front of, shattering it into two pieces.

"Now's your chance, Raven!" screamed Rogue. "Finish it off!"

"Ok, but how?" said Raven, clearly puzzled. "Could you try some kind of Mega Kick or something, Combusken?"

As ordered, Combusken leapt high above the field, its foot shining brightly. Onix barely had time to look up before Combusken struck.

There was a spectacular explosion. It took a minute for the smoke to dissipate, and in that minute the entire room was laced with nervous tension.

Visibility regained, Raven saw the makings of finality. Combusken kneeled, glistening with sweat and rising and falling with a labored breathing. Onix was sprawled out, its massive bulk only stirring slightly. At last, it let out a groan, its eyes spiraling.

The match was over. Raven had won.

"Return, Onix," said Brock. There was a note of acceptance in his voice. He walked over to Raven, past the broken remains of the battlefield.

"Trainer," he addressed Raven, "you have emerged victorious. Take the Boulder Badge."

He held out his palm. In it was a shiny, granite-colored, octagonal badge that shone in the light from above. Raven accepted it gingerly, running a thumb over its smooth surface. She was tempted to do a huge song and dance, but decided that it would have caused many unnecessary pain to their souls. She returned Combusken and walked out with only a wave of acknowledgement.

. . .

After healing at the Pokémon Center, Rogue and Raven set off yet again.

Even simply observing an intense Gym battle was enough to call to Rogue's stomach. Instead of a hamburger, Rogue had instead acquired a box of crackers that he wolfed down almost as fast as a Grovyle in the woodlands.

Raven was studying a Town Map they had purchased at a gift shop, gradually becoming more and more frustrated.

"Where the heck are we, anyway?" asked Raven. I can't find Pewter City anywhere on this map! The closest thing I can find is this Letmed City, and what kind of name is Otnvk?"

"Raven," said Rogue through a mouthful of crackers, "you're holding the map upside down."

Raven made a blank, disappointed look.

"Oh."

She then turned the Map right side up. Both stared at it, seeing that there were two possible paths out of Pewter City. One was a tunnel that travelled southeast underground, and the other was a route that ran east to Cerulean City.

"This cave looks interesting," said Raven, tracing its path with her finger.

"Then the cave it is," said Rogue.

. . .

When Rogue and Raven came closer to the cave, they stumbled upon an obstacle: a small wooden fence broken only by a small space where a bush grew.

Rogue stroked his invisible goatee. "We appear to be stuck."

"Um, hello?" said an exasperated Raven. "This fence is only three feet high! We can just climb over!"

Raven made a graceful leap…only to be blown back by some invisible force field.

She hit the ground with a thud, only to have her head shoot up again in like a groundhog emerging from its hole. "What the heck?"

Rogue, meanwhile, inspected the bush. It seemed oddly tree-like in nature, but, similar in his reasoning about broccoli, it was far too small to be a real tree. Rogue held out a hand and touched the tree. He was surprised when a strange, two-dimensional text box appeared in front of his face. He squinted his eyes to read it.

"It's a small tree. It looks like it can be cut down."

Rogue rolled his eyes. _That _was obvious. However, it sparked something in his memory. He produced a CD from somewhere and wrote "CUT" on it in black Sharpie. He then touched the tree again holding the CD. Another text box appeared.

"A new Gym badge is required to use this HM."

Rogue was starting to get annoyed. He muttered something under his breath that included the words "reality-warping" and "game mechanics". Standing back from the tree, he pulled out his lightsaber and slashed downward with a battle cry. After his frustration had subsided, Rogue deactivated his lightsaber. All that remained of the tree were two smoking pieces that were cut cleanly.

"That's one way to do it," commented Raven.

. . .

It was almost pitch-black inside the cave. The two friends descended a ladder into the strangest type of darkness they had ever encountered.

The cave wasn't very hard to navigate, but its unimaginable length troubled Raven. She couldn't see Rogue, but she could feel his steady presence through the Force.

It wasn't long before she realized that it wasn't just Rogue she was sensing.

She heard a faint, barely audible chant that echoed through the vast interior, and it sounded something like this:

"Diglett-Dig! Diglett-Dig!"

"Trio! Trio! Trio!"

"Hey, Rogue," Raven asked nervously. "What do they call this cave, anyway?"

Rogue didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss, or if he did, he chose not to place an undue amount of emphasis on it. "It's called Diglett's Cave."

"Why's that?"

"Years ago, hundreds of Diglett, a burrowing Pokémon, dug this tunnel and still continue to excavate."

It was at that very moment that massive tremors began to shake the cave violently.

"Well, that could explain this!" shouted Raven.

Seconds later they were lost in a living tide.

Raven was completely disoriented. She felt like she was being tossed around in a giant sea of foam balls that moved up and down of their own accord. She could still feel Rogue's presence, but it was almost lost in the extreme number of other conscious beings. The rumbling thudded against Raven's ears like a perpetual clap of thunder, drowning out all of her other senses. She could not tell which direction they were moving. They could very well be on their way to an undiscovered tunnel where they would starve to death…

In an instant, so suddenly that it took her seconds to realize, Raven was thrown outward, slamming into something that was a wall, the ground, or the ceiling. When she rolled to a stop, she coughed and sputtered, clearly shaken. Gravity told her that she must be laying on the ground.

"Diglett-Dig!"

Raven let out a terrified shriek and bashed the ground where the sound had come from with the newly materialized Blonde Crutch. It slammed hard into the ground, causing an incredible CRACK! to reverberate around her.

"Diglett-Dig!"

The sound had come from directly behind. Raven struck so fast that it seemed she could have teleported. Sweat matted her long, blonde hair, owing its existence only slightly to the high temperatures within the cave. Raven's eyes were bloodshot. They were toying with her, those Diglett, driving her insane with an eternal game of whack-a-mole. She poised for the next attack, her crazed mind unable to contemplate anything other than the complete annihilation of those accursed creatures.

"Hey Rave- OW! Ach! Yeouch!"

Raven thrashed madly, failing to realize that it was Rogue in front of her rather than a Diglett.

"Cut it OW!t, it's me, Rogue!"

Raven finally emerged from her crazed state. "Rogue? Are you ok?"

There was a groan. "Other than some internal bleeding, head trauma, and a mild concussion, I should be fine. What was all that for?"

Raven shrugged. She was past caring that no one except for the readers knew that she had performed the gesture. "I thought you were a Diglett."

"What about _after_ you figured out it was me?"

"That was just because I wanted to."

There was another groan. "Well, it looks like there's one good thing that came out of all of this."

"What's that?" asked Raven, confused.

"Look up."

There was a faint light shining from above.

"Hallelujah!" shouted Raven. "We're not going to starve to death!"

The pair began the gratefully accepted ascent to freedom.


End file.
